NIGERIA: Trains To Commence Evacuation Of Petroleum Products From Apapa, Lagos
AS part of efforts to ensure the nation’s seaports are rid off of congestion, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is to commence the evac...
http://www.africaeagle.com/2014/09/nigeria-trains-to-commence-evacuation.html
AS part of efforts to ensure the nation’s seaports are rid off of congestion, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is to commence the evacuation of petroleum products from tank farms and oil depots located in Apapa by rail this month.
Director of Operations of the corporation, Niyi Ali, who disclosed this in Lagos, expressed confidence that with this development, vehicular traffic that used to characterised the Apapa area and Tin-Can Island which host the two largest seaports in Nigeria, will soon be over.
According to him, railway links to the tank farms for lifting of petroleum products by oil marketers will be completed by September this year and already, some of the oil marketing companies had started moving Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) by rail, but not yet petroleum because of safety issues.
He said: “recently, the ×Nigerian Railway moved its first commercial quantity of diesel out of Apapa. We moved 12 wagons of AGO from Lagos to Kano. We moved 528 thousand litres of AGO by rail. Moving AGO is a bit easier because you don’t need that amount of safety considerations. So, we can trans-load from road tankers to tankers and that is what we will continue to do. As time goes on, we will see an increment in not just the amount of AGOs but also other products.”
“In the AGO movement, we used a third party called ×Connect Rail who brokered the deal between the ×Nigeria Railways and the product marketer, Eterna Oil Plc,” he added.
He said the NRC had acquired 40 brand new pressurised tank wagons meant for lifting petroleum products from the jetties.
“The first thing we do in our discussions with some of the oil marketers is how to create access to the tank farms and as we speak, we have contracts to rehabilitate all the lines to the tank farms of the major oil marketers.
“The lines are currently being built and rehabilitated to their terminals. We also have ongoing discussions with most of them about the facilities that are required to trans-load the products from their tank farms into the tank wagons. We also consider the fact that these materials are highly combustible, so safety is always the key concern for us,” he posited.
He said the NRC is currently moving about 60 units of 40ft containers every week from APM Terminals Apapa to the northern part of the country.
“We are also in serious discussions with AP Moller Terminal in Apapa and from next month, our target is to be running three trains a week between Lagos and Kano in addition to what we are already carrying.
“We are also in discussion with all other terminal operators like ENL and GDNL to see how we can best utilise their facilities but all these have to do with re-establishing confidence in the rail system,” Ali stated.
Source: Tribune
Director of Operations of the corporation, Niyi Ali, who disclosed this in Lagos, expressed confidence that with this development, vehicular traffic that used to characterised the Apapa area and Tin-Can Island which host the two largest seaports in Nigeria, will soon be over.
According to him, railway links to the tank farms for lifting of petroleum products by oil marketers will be completed by September this year and already, some of the oil marketing companies had started moving Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) by rail, but not yet petroleum because of safety issues.
He said: “recently, the ×Nigerian Railway moved its first commercial quantity of diesel out of Apapa. We moved 12 wagons of AGO from Lagos to Kano. We moved 528 thousand litres of AGO by rail. Moving AGO is a bit easier because you don’t need that amount of safety considerations. So, we can trans-load from road tankers to tankers and that is what we will continue to do. As time goes on, we will see an increment in not just the amount of AGOs but also other products.”
“In the AGO movement, we used a third party called ×Connect Rail who brokered the deal between the ×Nigeria Railways and the product marketer, Eterna Oil Plc,” he added.
He said the NRC had acquired 40 brand new pressurised tank wagons meant for lifting petroleum products from the jetties.
“The first thing we do in our discussions with some of the oil marketers is how to create access to the tank farms and as we speak, we have contracts to rehabilitate all the lines to the tank farms of the major oil marketers.
“The lines are currently being built and rehabilitated to their terminals. We also have ongoing discussions with most of them about the facilities that are required to trans-load the products from their tank farms into the tank wagons. We also consider the fact that these materials are highly combustible, so safety is always the key concern for us,” he posited.
He said the NRC is currently moving about 60 units of 40ft containers every week from APM Terminals Apapa to the northern part of the country.
“We are also in serious discussions with AP Moller Terminal in Apapa and from next month, our target is to be running three trains a week between Lagos and Kano in addition to what we are already carrying.
“We are also in discussion with all other terminal operators like ENL and GDNL to see how we can best utilise their facilities but all these have to do with re-establishing confidence in the rail system,” Ali stated.
Source: Tribune
