After its long absence in the market for about 10 years, The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has begun cargo operations with transportation of goods from Ogun to Niger State.
A cargo train yesterday travelled to Minna with 675 tonnes of cement. It reached Minna safely from Ewekoro and offloaded the cement for dispatch.
The Public Relations Officer of the Minna railway station, Abdulraouf Akinwuye, disclosed this yesterday while addressing journalists. He said the cement was loaded at Lafarage Cement Company at Ewekoro in Ogun State.
Akinwuye said now that the cargo trains are up and running, it will create job opportunities for the youths in and outside the state. He added that 50 youth are always needed for loading and offloading goods.
Other jobs like, administrative, clerical, security and supervisorial will be created, he added.
He also disclosed that the company’s choice to use the cargo part of rail service was born out of the cheaper and safer means of transporting goods to other parts of Nigeria and the development would as well reduce the cost of retail cement.
He assured that the service of the cargo train has returned to stay, will be distributed within Minna and Abuja.