By Abayomi Adeshida

The Managing Director, Nigerian Railways Corporation (NRC), Mr Adeseyi Sijuwade yesterday expressed Federal Government’s commitments towards investing in the rail transport system in the country to de-congest the highways and guarantee a long life span for roads across the country.

Sijuwade was speaking in Singapore as a Federal Government trade and investments delegation met with officials of the Singapore Land Transport Authority.

According to him, “though government is investing huge funds on roads yearly, Nigerian cities are congested because most of the travels are done by road.

“Everyday, the roads get busy across the country because more than ninety_five per cent of travels were usually by roads. We are here to understudy you transport system because government is committed to de-congesting the transport system. After this preliminary meetings, the Federal Ministry of Transport would be at a later meeting to discuss with the government of Singapore at another agreed date.

Earlier, the the Dean, Singapore Land Transport Authority Academy, Mr Mohinder Singh who received the delegation informed them that the government in Singapore has driven to an advanced stage, plans to expand its transport network by 2030.

Singh who spoke at the Land Transport Gallery in Singapore informed the delegation that, “daily, more than 1.5 million passengers are transported through the Rapid Transit Systems (RTS). “The desire of government here is that at least ninety_five percent travels across the country are made within the within an hour.

“We do not have a regulated taxi system here, but there are two bus operating companies and two rail services companies. At present our challenge is to build a sustainable transport system that is inclusive and able to support a vibrant Singapore well into the future,” Singh told the delegation.

In a presentation dubbed ‘Land Transport Gallery’, the Nigerian delegation were shown in a fun and interactive way the transformation of the land transport system in Singapore. Also, the delegation was taken through the challenges ahead of the country in the next 20 years in land transportation by 2030.

Later, the delegation was conducted round the Pasir Parjang Terminal operated by PSA International Pte Ltd, where the Group Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr. Jefferey Sim informed them that electronic devices have been adopted in facilitating cargo clearance.

According to him, “it takes about 25 seconds for trucks to go through the electronic gates to eliminate a long wait by trucks. “There is a remote crane operation system in the port, while the terminal operates 24 hours including public holidays.The volume of cargo we handled here declined from 63 million tonnes in 2008 to 56 million tonnes in 2009.