The Federal Government has disclosed that it was in talks with investors on how to power Nigeria’s trains with electricity or gas following the astronomical hike in diesel cost.
The Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Ohkiria, in an interview with The PUNCH in Abuja, disclosed that NRC was calling on partners who generate power that will be dedicated to training operations to collaborate with the cooperation.
He, however, did not disclose if any company has shown interest but said the NRC was the main driver of the project.
“We are looking at how we can encourage partners who are into power generation that would be dedicated to training operations so that as we buy diesel, we also buy power from them. I think that is the right way to go.”
Speaking further, he said the power to be used to operate the train would be different from the normal domestic power used in the various homes to avoid people tampering with it.
“The power is not the same as the household power. The voltage is not going to be the same because if you leave it at the same, people will start tapping that current to feed their houses.
“The rail power has to be separated from the domestic power so that it can be left for what it is meant for. So, if you are using 230 volts in your house, we can decide to use 24 volts for train operations.
“We are looking at it seriously and we hope that we get enough interest that will buy into the idea we are selling,” Ohkiria said.
Source: The Punch
