It, however, said that the project was over 90 per cent completed.

The Lagos District Manager of NRC, Mr Jerry Oche, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that the corporation doubted resumption of the services before the Yuletide.

The NRC suspended daily train services including Mass Transit Train Services (MTTS) in September on the narrow gauge from Ijoko in Ogun to Ebute-Meta and Apapa in Lagos State.

The suspension was to fast track the completion of the new Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge line which required shifting the existing narrow gauge and relaying it to accommodate the standard gauge rail line.

The project is being handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).

The corporation had informed its customers that the suspended train services would resume on Nov. 15, but there seems to be no end to the waiting game by commuters.

Speaking on the work progress and possibility of resuming services before Christmas, Oche said: “I don’t see the possibility of resumption before Christmas,  but the work is still ongoing and the Chinese (contractor) have redoubled their efforts.

“There are some challenges that have not yet been cleared. The Chinese are working, our own team are also working to ensure that we resume as soon as possible. So, there cannot be an exact day of resumption for now. We cannot give an exact date now.”

According to him, there are jobs the Chinese are doing and there are also jobs the NRC staff are doing to ensure resumption as quickly as possible.

He added that the jobs were at final stages.

“The main thing remaining is dotting of ‘Is’ and crossing of ‘Ts’. If we must put the work done, we are looking at 90 per cent or plus. What is remaining is not really much, but they are major things that must be done,” the officer said.

According to him, being a new track, there must be test run before they can be put for commercial use.

The NRC boss said he had commenced first hand inspection on foot along the narrow gauge rail line to see things for himself.

He said that the contractor had been working round the clock, while the NRC was putting a lot of pressure to  complete the job on time without compromising standards.

He appealed to commuters to be patient with the corporation, saying train services would be better, more effective and efficient on resumption. (NAN)