APM Terminals has expressed support for the Federal Government’s drive to connect the Apapa Port to the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line.
A statement by the terminal operator quoted the Country Managing Director of APM Terminals Nigeria, Mr Klaus Laursen, as saying this when the Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, visited the terminal last week.
He also said that linking the port to the rail line would facilitate cargo delivery even as he advocated a multimodal transportation system to evacuate cargo from the port to avoid port congestion.
Laursen APM Terminals Apapa first restored the rail in the port in 2013, leading to the movement of containers from Apapa port to Kano and Kaduna three times a week.
He said that connecting the port to the new Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line would offer cost advantage to consignees and reduce pressure on the road.
Laursen added that APM Terminals Apapa had encouraged the use of barges to move boxes from the terminal.
“Over the past few years, APM Terminals Apapa has been on a remarkable transformation journey. We have led with a strong ambition to become a world-class terminal operator. We enable access to jobs, products, foods, and medicine. For us, it is not just about moving containers around; we are a heartbeat for the society and we create value for our customers,” he said.
On her part, the Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, said arrangements had been made to remove the Customs building that had been obstructing the extension of the rail track to the port quay.
“By the end of this month, we want to ensure that the removal of this Customs facility which is on the rail track is resolved. The goal is to have this track operational by the end of this month,” the minister said.
