Nigerian Railway Corporation (commonly abbreviated as NRC) is the state-owned enterprise with exclusive rights to operate railways in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

History and legislative background

The Nigerian Railway Corporation traces its history to the year 1898, when the first railroad in Nigeria was constructed by the British colonial government. On October 3, 1912, the Lagos Government Railway and the Baro-Kano Railway were amalgamated,Stocker, John
Nigerian Railway Jubilee, 1901-1951: An Illustrated and Descriptive History of the Nigerian Railway (Lagos Railway, Wushishi Tramway, Baro Kano Railway)
1951. Retrieved November 12, 2013. starting nationwide rail service under the name Government Department of Railways. With the passing of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Act of 1955, the company gained its current name as well as the exclusive legal right to construct and operate rail service in Nigeria. The rail network reached its maximum extent shortly after Nigerian independence, in 1964. Shortly after that, the NRC entered a long period of decline, inept management, and eventually a complete lack of maintenance of rail and locomotive assets. In 1988, NRC declared bankruptcy, and all rail traffic stopped for six months. After that, trains resumed, where the tracks were usable. By 2002, passenger service was again discontinued altogether. Starting in 2006, plans were made to restore the rail lines and add new locomotives with foreign assistance. In December 2012 regular, scheduled passenger service was restored on the Lagos to Kano line. The Nigerian Railway Corporation recorded record revenues of 2.12 billion naira (approximately €4.664 million) in the first half of 2021, an increase of 31% over the same period in 2019, which recorded the previous record revenue. At the same time, revenue from freight transport was down, with gains coming mainly from passenger transport between Lagos and Ibadan on the new standard gauge.

Infrastructure and operations

Rail lines

Nigerian Railway Corporation operates a network of of single track lines

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

, as well as from Abuja to Kaduna. General None of the NRC's lines is electrified. 157 kilometers are double-tracked. These are located between Lagos and Ibadan. The rail lines are mostly built of rails with a weight per meter of 29.8 kg, 34.7 kg or 39.7 kg. In total, the NRC network is almost 4,000 kilometers long. The government is considering converting the existing rail network from cape gauge to standard gauge.

Cape gauge lines

The Nigerian Railway Corporation operates a 3,505-kilometer Cape Gauge network consisting of the following lines: Lagos-Agege-Ifaw-Ibadan-Ilorin-Minna-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano, 1126 kilometers. Ifaw-Ilaro, 20 kilometers Minna-Baro, 155 kilometers Zaria-Kaura Namoda, 245 kilometers Kano-Nguru Kaduna-Kafanchan-Kuru-Bauchi-Maiduguri, 885 kilometers Kuru-Jos, 55 kilometers Kafanchan-Makurdi-Enugu-Port Harcourt, 737 kilometers Under construction is the 1,443-kilometer Eastern Rail Line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri since March 9, 2021, with construction activities including renovation or reconstruction of existing lines. The project also includes new branch lines to Owerri and Damaturu, increasing the total length 2,044 km. Completion is scheduled for 2024. Funding for the Lagos-Calabar rail line along the Nigerian coast to be built under Chinese management was released in early 2021, but the start of construction appears to be delayed to a date after the Nigerian general election in 2023. The line to Gusau has been closed since a bridge collapsed in 2002. The NRC network does not yet connect to the rail network of neighboring states. However, in February 2021, construction began on a cape-gauge link from Kano to Maradi, the second-largest city in Niger, under the auspices of Portugal's Mota-Engil SGPS SA, with planned inauguration in 2023, which will be one of the first rail lines in Niger. In September 2022, after a 10-year interruption, the

Cape Gauge A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

service from

Bauchi Bauchi (earlier Yakoba) is a city in northeast Nigeria, the Administrative center of Bauchi State, of the Bauchi Local Government Area within that State, and of the traditional Bauchi Emirate. It is located on the northern edge of the Jos Plate ...

to the suburb of Inkil resumed. Train services in this area, northeastern Nigeria, were at a standstill due to the

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

unrest and were subsequently renovated.

Standard gauge lines

A standard gauge network is developing. The oldest standard-gauge line is the original 217-kilometer line from Oturkpo to the Ajaokuta steel mill. An earlier standard gauge line of 51.5 kilometers operated between the Itakp mines and the Ajaokuta steel mill. On September 29, 2020, an extension, the Warri-Itakpe Railway, was officially opened by President Muhammadu Buhari in a virtual ceremony. In 2018, employees of China Civil Engineering Construction working on the project had been attacked twice by "bandits." Passenger trains have been running on the standard gauge line since October 2020 and freight trains since April 2021. There are also plans for an extension here: from Ajaokuta to Abuja. This would give the line a length of 500 kilometers. Another planned line runs from Port Harcourt to Makurdi over a length of 463 kilometers. Construction of the Abuja-Kaduna line by the Chinese construction company CCECC began in February 2011, and it was finally inaugurated on July 26, 2016. The total cost was US$870 million. The 186.5-kilometer line, which begins in Idu 20 kilometers west of central Abuja, requires two hours of travel time for high-speed 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 (186 km). That Nigerians like to take the train between the capital Abuja and the next largest city Kaduna also has very serious reasons. Indeed, the "highway" between the two cities is a constant target for muggers. A train journey is thus the safer alternative to a car for residents of both cities. In 2019, a train traveler says, "I was kidnapped and now only travel by train!" Celebrities are also affected: As recently as November 20, 2021, Zamfara State governorship candidate Sagir Hamidu died in a robbery on the said Abuja-Kaduna Expressway. Train traveler Agatha Ameh says, "Although, I know some people who still travel by road, possibly because it’s cheaper, I will prefer the train services any day, any time. It’s safer, smoother, and even faster." She particularly praises the e-ticketing platform on the Abuja-Kaduna line. - On 28 March 2022, the Abuja-Kaduna line was the target of a

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

in which a large number of passengers and train staff were killed or kidnapped. Some of the 168 abductees were gradually released for ransom. The line was shut down. Five months later, the terrorists still hold some hostages. However, there are increasing voices, especially from Muslim associations, to restart the train service between Abuja and Kaduna anyway. The Lagos-Ibadan double-track line has been under construction by CCECC since March 2017 and was inaugurated at the new Lagos Central Station on June 10, 2021. It is 157 km long and passes through Abeokuta. It is the first double-track standard gauge line in West Africa. A Lagos-Ibadan journey takes two and a half hours, half as long as the equivalent car journey. All compartments (standard class, business class and first class) are air-conditioned and have three overhead screens. The window seats are equipped with power outlets and USB charging stations. Criticisms include the fact that tickets are not available online and only for cash payment, and that there are only two trips a day in each direction. There is praise for the punctuality and cleanliness of the trains. The Cape Gauge tracks, which continue to exist, are to be shared by the "Red Line" of the Lagos Light Rail, which is currently under construction. Modern station buildings have been constructed along all new standard gauge lines. 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.

Stations

Trains

Trains offer relatively new rolling stock consisting of Couchette-type sleepers, air-conditioned first class sitting coaches and non-air conditioned economy class coaches. Trains to/from Lagos also offer buffet cars. Between Lagos and Ifo, a distance of , a local service operates on working days on behalf of the city of Lagos. All trains are

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

operated. The railways owns nearly 200 locomotives, of which up to 75% are not operational. It also owns about 54 shunters, 480 passenger coaches and over 4900 freight wagons; less than 50% of the coaches and wagons are in serviceable conditions. No trains have run on the

Gusau The city of Gusau, located in northwestern Nigeria, is the capital of Zamfara State. It is also the name of the state's Local Government Area (LGA), which has an area of ² and a population of 383,162 as of the 2006 census. The area's postal ...

branch since a bridge collapsed in Tsafe in 2002.

Recent history

NRC went more than once into bankruptcy during the last 20 years. Lack of maintenance on

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

and

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles ca ...

and a high number of employees the railway produced huge deficits, not taken over by the state. In 2005 after several re-organisations of the system passenger transport was reduced to four departures weekly from Lagos of which two went to Kano, one to Jos and one to Maiduguri; from Port Harcourt four trains every week ran to Kano (two weekly), one weekly to Jos and one to Maiduguri.

Status in 2008

According to the critique by Mazi Jetson Nwakwo, acting managing director of the NRC the rail system is suffering from the lack of political will by the nation's politicians. While the NRC had employed about 45,000 people between 1954 and 1975, current employment is only 6,516.Railways Africa report, accessed 2/6/2008
/ref> He pointed out that no new wagons had been bought since 1993, and some wagons date back to 1948. Track condition limits trains to a speed of 35 km/h.

Specifications

Couplers Coupler may refer to: Engineering Mechanical * Railway coupler, a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train device ** Janney coupler ** SA3 coupler ** Scharfenberg coupler for multiple unit passenger cars * Quick coupler, used in construc ...

: ABC *

Brakes A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Backgroun ...

Vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Railway companies of Nigeria 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Nigeria Nigerian brands 1898 establishments in the British Empire Railway companies established in 1898 Government-owned railway companies