NaijaTalkTalk- Nigeria’s railway system: Now a song worth singing

Given its historic relevance and the economic centre stage that it occupied, Nigeria’s railway transportation was, until now, regarded as the non-existent link in the nation’s development chain. For over three decades, that part of the nation’s transport sector declined with no obvious hope in sight for rehabilitation. Before the deterioration, railway transportation served multidimensional purposes. It held very vital socio-economic relevance for all aspects of the country.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation has its historical trajectory tied to the year 1898 when the first railroad was constructed by the British government in Nigeria. Records available have it that in 1912, the amalgamation of the Lagos Government Railway and the Baro-Kano Ralway was achieved. This resulted in the commencement of a country wide rail service under the tag of the Government Department of Railways. What gave the company its current name as well as the right to operate and construct rail systems was the Nigerian Railway Corporation Act of 1995.

The services of the NRC received both local and near global appraisal, entering into the early years of the nation’s independence.The following years saw a gradual but decimating decline in the services of the corporation. Issues bothering around lack of proper management and maintenance of the locomotive assets and the rail brought the company to its knees. Before long, the corporation went bankrupt and all rail services stopped.

Attempts by succeeding regimes to revive the rail system proved abortive. By the year 2002, cargo services including passenger services evaporated.The presence of articulated vehicles conveying goods including combustible contents followed the inability to revive the rail system. This increased the pressure on the roads especially accidents with quite fatal proportions.  Roads not meant to accommodate the weight of articulated vehicles fell into worrisome disrepair.  Since the comatose state of the rail system became obvious, the cost of rehabilitating the roads became enervating. Many of the major roads connecting the cities, states and hubs bowed to the immense pressure from heavy vehicles.

At its best, the corporation boasted of over 45, 000 in its employment but such number dropped disturbingly. Attempts in 2006 to resuscitate the corporation’s erstwhile 1,067 mm network to standard met with some brick wall particularly the lack of a political will.

The disturbing testament of the rail system was overhauled after the commencement of the transformation agenda of 2011 was announced by the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Indeed it is comforting to note that the tracks are alive again and the system is undergoing serious and sustainable revamping.

Giving credence to this assertion, the Honourable Minister of Transport, Senator Idris A. Umar in a recent television interview remarked that there is no development project for the rail system that does not receive the approval of Mr. President.

The ongoing rehabilitation of over 90% of the entire existing narrow gauge lines throughout the country is encouraging. The achievements of the NRC under the present administration are a sure pointer to better things to come. According to the corporation, “The rehabilitation is the first segment of the 25 years Railway Strategic Vision.

“The Western line, Lagos - Kano (1,124km) is completed and passenger services and haulage of goods along the line were flagged off in December, 2012. The rehabilitation work in the Eastern line Port Harcourt-Maiduguri (1,657km) is progressing steadily within the Port-Harcourt- Gombe segment including the branch line from Kafanchan-Kaduna expected to be completed.

Rehabilitation of sidings and loop lines along the Western line, including connection to key industrial locations within Apapa 74  stations and branch lines between Lagos and Kano, the 300 meter link between Apapa Port Complex and the national line  and the spur line to the Kaduna power plant complex have commenced.”
The corporation went a step further by procuring twenty-five 2500HP locomotives from GE,  four 1800HP locomotives from CNR of China, 40 pressurised tank wagons, two 100ton telescopic cranes, three wheel machine, six  68-seater air-conditioned coaches, additional five 68-seater air-conditioned coaches, two sets of diesel multiple units (DMUs), two 1800HP CNR locomotives, two power cars, two 18-seater rail buses, 18 rail cars with trolleys for track maintenance, two 3500HP locomotives with in-built power cars and 5 air-conditioned coaches for standard gauge tracks to be delivered in the first quarter of 2015.

The fulfillment of the vision to revamp the rail system has started yielding desired results.  At the moment, well over 3,000Km of the entire existing Narrow Gauge Lines throughout the federation is witnessing real rehabilitation.  It is also compelling to observe that the Western Corridor Rail Line from Lagos that passes through some South-Western States to kano, a total of 1,124Km, is a good testimony of successful rehabilitation. A hitch free passenger and freight train services/operations started since December, 2012.  Also cheering is the Eastern Corridor Rail Line from Port-Harcourt – Maiduguri (1,657Km) which is undergoing successful rehabilitation.

The desirable ripple effect of this exercise is the kick-off of passenger and Haulage train services from Port-Harcourt – Enugu railway Station (243Km) in December, 2014. Amid much jubilation, the linkage of this rail line to Makurdi was launched on January, 23, 2015. This is expected to be extended to Gombe axis and the branch line from Kafanchan – Kaduna very soon.

In the list of the achievements at the railway corporation is what is witnessed presently at the Apapa Port Complex Railway double Track Network of 1.5Km each. This has helped in the commencement of freight train services from the port to other parts of the country.
There is also the on-going rehabilitation of Sidings and Loop lines along the Western Line including connections to key industrial locations within Apapa; 74 Stations and Branch lines between Lagos and Kano, the 300 meter link between the Apapa Port Complex and the National line and the Spur Line to the Kaduna Power Plant Complex.  Similarly, there has been the modification of Microwave Communication equipment for Narrow Gauge with 72 Repeater Sites Nationwide to provide a backbone for the Automated Train Warranty (ATU’) Signaling System, Intercom Communication within the railway network and to enhance passenger information, CCTV and Internet Services. The rehabilitation phase has equally witnessed the refurbishment and modernization of existing rolling stock and procurement of new rolling stock for the Narrow Gauge Rail Lines which the limited space will not accommodate.

The number of passengers conveyed by rail increased from 4,155,988 in 2012 to 4,328,789 in 2013 and to over 5,000,000 passengers in 2014.  In isolated cases, Mass Transit trains make about 18 trips from Iddo (Lagos State) to Ijoko (Ogun State) and convey over 20,000 passengers daily in Lagos. The Kaduna intra-city Mass Transit makes 10 trips per day and conveys about 10,000 passengers daily.

In the area of freight services, about 3,000 tons of flour mills are moved from Lagos to Kano monthly; about 3,000 tons of Lafarge Cement are moved from Lagos to Kano on monthly basis; about 9,000 tons of track materials are moved for rehabilitation of Eastern Corridor monthly and about 2,000 tons of containers for ICNL are moved from Lagos to Kano on monthly basis.

In the modernisation of railway transportation which is the second stage of the Strategic Vision, several milestones have been recorded.  The laying of tracks of Idu (Abuja) – Kaduna Standard Gauge Rail Line (187.5km) is 100 percent completed, which will soon be commissioned for public use.  The construction and rehabilitation of the Itakpe-Ajaokuta – Warri Standard Gauge rail line including the signaling and telecommunication component have reached several advanced stages of completion.

Very recently, President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated a five-seater air-conditioned passenger inter-city rail transport system that would link Makurdi, Benue State with Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
The President, who was represented by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, stated that Nigeria is witnessing transformation, especially in the transport sector during his administration.

According to him, “President Jonathan has ensured the fulfillment of the promises he made to Nigerians by transforming the country, especially the transport sector as a critical infrastructure.
“Today’s event is a commitment of our unflinching services. This transformation is in three phases: System transition, system modernisation and system stabilisation”.

At the event was the state governor, Gabriel Suswam, who commended the President for revamping the railway system.

 “Transformation does not need noise. We need young people to run government, but not old people who are too weak; the old people should guide us to continue the transformation agenda.”
The Chairman, Nigerian Railway Cooperation, Bamanga Tukur, added that the commitment of the Federal Government in the railway sector would trigger development of the economy.
The Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, called on the people to take advantage of the opportunity which is the present administration is providing in the railway sector.