Calling on Transportation Minister – New Telegraph

The history of the Nigerian railway can be traced to the British colonial government when it began the construction of a railway from the then Lagos Colony to Ibadan in March 1896. According to information sourced on Wikipedia, “the Lagos Government Railway started operations in March 1901 and was extended to Minna in 1911, where it met the Baro– Kano Railway that was built by the government of Northern Nigeria between 1907 and 1911.
The two lines were amalgamated in 1912 into the Government Department of Railways, the predecessor to the Nigerian Railway Corporation. The railway reached its North-eastern terminus of Nguru in 1930.” The discovery of coal at Udi, gave birth to the Eastern Railway in Port Harcourt between 1913 and 1916.
This was later extended to Kaduna in 1927, connecting the Eastern Railway to the Lagos–Kano Railway. The Eastern Railway was extended to its North-eastern terminus of Maiduguri between 1958 and 1964. During this period, mass movement of goods and services was largely done through the railway, which in turn reduced the pressure on our roads and made them durable.
Between 1963 and the early 1980s, Nigeria had a vibrant rail system, which conveyed agricultural produce, livestock and solid mineral resources to the Lagos and Port Harcourt seaports from where they were exported to other countries.
But due to years of neglect by subsequent administrations, our railway system was killed by bureaucracy and corruption. Some of the rail tracks were left unattended to as a result of which they were vandalised. Because of the state of the rail tracks, few trains which plied them had to move at snail speed.
After years of neglect, there was a glimmer of hope that the comatose Nigerian railway system will soon be back on track when former President Olusegun Obasanjo performed the official groundbreaking ceremony of the Abuja light rail system in May 2007.
The project was part of the city’s bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014. But paucity of funds stalled it for many years. In 2009, the nation also saw the need to commence railway modernisation project, which culminated in the signing of the contract for the construction of the Abuja to Kaduna rail line in 2009. The $1.46billion Abuja-Kaduna train service was completed and inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 27.
The Abuja-Kaduna train for passengers and freight is Nigeria’s first-ever standard gauge rail track to go into operation. The project, which is Nigeria’s first high speed rail system, was built by the CCECC and is made up of a 186.5km standard gauge double track from Abuja to Kaduna.
It comprises nine stations and the train, according to the Chinese firm, can travel as fast as 150km/hour. The idea was conceived by a previous administration, started by the Goodluck Jonathan government and was completed and inaugurated by the current government, an indication that government is a continuum. It is expected that goods that are brought in from Kaduna to Abuja using this means of transport will be cheaper and affordable compared to using other means of transportation.
Besides, standard gauge train service is safe, fast and reliable. Another great advantage of this project is that residents of Kaduna can leave their home on a daily basis to work in Abuja since the journey is less than an hour.
It will also serve as an alternative transport link between Abuja and Kaduna. During the last Eid-el-Kabir, findings showed that after so many years, some rams were brought into Lagos on trains and those rams were cheaper compare with those brought through road transport.
Various countries in the world have long realised that the rail system remains the best option for mass movement of people, goods and services. Nigeria cannot afford to be different. In 2011, Saudi Arabia awarded high-speed railway contract worth $7.5 billion to a consortium of 12 Spanish companies and two Saudi firms aim to improve transport connections between two cities, Mecca and Madinah, during the annual hajj pilgrimage.
By implication, when completed, a journey, which requires putting 53,000 buses on the roads to cater for about two million pilgrims will be carried out by just 35 highspeed trains. 72,000 pilgrims will be moved every one hour. One could imagine the number of man-hour that will be saved using this effective and reliable means of transportation.
As part of his administration’s plan, President Muhammadu Buhari assured that most state capitals and major commercial and production centres would be linked with the railway system as a way of bringing about rapid socio-economic development and improving the quality of life of Nigerians, and promoting social and regional integration.
We hope the promise made will be kept so that we can go back to the good old days when train ride was a pleasure and booster of our economy.