Rail transport in Nigeria

Its primary purpose was to facilitate the exploitation of Nigeria's natural resources, such as tin, coal, and petroleum.

[6] In 2006, the government contracted with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to build the Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway.

The line, which begins in Idu, 20 kilometers west of central Abuja, requires two hours of travel time for trains with a maximum speed of 100 km/h.

In August 2020, NRC reported that about 50% of the revenue of its entire rail network (about 4,000 km) would be generated by the standard gauge Abuja–Kaduna line.

The line was conceived as an industrial railway to supply the Ajaokuta Steel Mill with iron ore from Itakpe and metallurgical coal imported through the port of Warri.

[16] In August 2017, the Minister of Transportation announced that the railway would be completed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Julius Berger.

[23] Criticisms include the fact that tickets are not available online and only for cash payment, and that there are only three trips a day in each direction.

The new main station of Lagos, Mobolaji Johnson, for example, offers air-conditioned waiting rooms, handicapped access to the tracks, airport-like display boards of departure times, clean toilets, trained personnel for medical emergencies, etc.

The 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge Bauchi Light Railway operated between Zaria and Bukuru over a distance 230 km (143 mi) and was opened in stages between 1912 and 1914.

[27][28] The construction of railways in Nigeria started from Lagos Colony to Ibadan in March 1896, by the British government.

The eastern line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri was restored at a cost of US$427 million by Lingo Nigeria, Eser West Africa, and the China Gezhouba Group.

[39] In order to remedy the poor condition, efficiency, and profitability of the nation's railroads, the government is also seeking to privatize the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

[1] Several metro systems are active or under construction: Media related to Rail transport in Nigeria at Wikimedia Commons