Nigeria's largest container terminal, APM Terminals Apapa on Wednesday, embarked on an awareness campaign on the standard gauge rail line with a rail trip to Ibadan for its customers.
About 20 of its customers comprising of importers and exporters, were present on the trip which began from Ebute Metta rail station, Lagos, ending at the Moniya Freight Yard, Ibadan.
Last year, the terminal began the evacuation of cargo via the standard gauge rail line from the Lagos Port Complex Apapa to Moniya Freight Yard in Ibadan, Oyo State, to boost the handling of exports and imports.
Speaking on the trip, undertaken to create awareness on the opportunities the standard rail gauge offers for the economy and ease of cargo delivery for customers, the APM Terminals Nigeria Inland Sales Manager, David Abbey underscored the critical role of rail in facilitating trade.
He said: "improving life for all by integrating the world"' is one of the many reasons this product was created which gives the customers the option of rail, road and barging of containers out of APM Terminals Apapa.
"The rail runs from APM Terminals Apapa to Moniya in Ibadan which connects nicely to the North.
"The standard gauge rail line will guarantee safety, faster turnaround time for cargo exchange, create reliability, predictability and ease of doing business for our valued customers, in addition to creating a one-stop shop for import, storage and export consolidation through container freight station (CFS) operations at the rail terminal in Moniya Ibadan."
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On his part, Market and Commercial Intelligence Manager for APM Terminals Nigeria, Adetunji Igbaugba, encouraged importers and exporters to use the standard gauge rail line for fast delivery of their containers to and from Ibadan.
He said the Moniya Freight Yard has 8,000 square metres of land and a warehouse measuring about 4,000 square metres which can be used for stuffing and unstuffing of boxes.
"We do a lot of exports in Moniya. However, we need to continue to improve on the processes to ensure that we surpass our customers' expectation like scheduling and reliability. We will continue to partner with the Nigerian Railway Corporation and other stakeholders to bring the needed efficiency for the customers to have a better trust in the product and service," he said.
The Executive Director, Bueno Logistics Limited, Jedson Nwankwo said the Moniya Freight Yard, consisting of two terminals (A and B), is well positioned to handle many containers.
He said Terminal A is operated by Diamond Star and Terminal B operated by Bueno Logistics.
Also speaking, Director of Primlaks Nigeria Ltd - Logistics Division, Bhagu Vasnani commended APM Terminals for the rail trip and assured of cooperation to optimize the use of the standard gauge rail line and the Moniya Freight Yard.
Other exporters who were part of the trip also commended APM Terminals for the initiative.
