Nigeria
Nigeria backs rail to bo F
Nigeria’s government is investing billions to rehabilitate existing and build new railway infrastructure. Malcolm Dowden, consultant at Charles Russell LLP, considers the model adopted for a revamped Nigerian Railways Corporation and the difficulties it faces in achieving its goals.
RESHLY painted coaches that greet passengers travelling from Kano, northern Nigeria, to the
southern metropolis of Lagos project a revitalised image of the country’s railway network. They are also indicative of the government’s belief that investing in its crumbling colonial infrastructure is key to boosting the economy.
Following a Naira 24bn ($US 151.7m) investment to upgrade track and signalling on the 1067mm-gauge line as well as the purchase of 25 GE locomotives and renovation of 500 wagons and passenger coaches, services recommenced on the 98km line from Lagos to Abeokula in December. This was followed on the entire 1126km route to Kano in early 2013, 10 years after it closed. Around 57,000 passengers used the
Nigeria Birnin Kanni Illela Sokoto Kaura Namoda Gusau Kano Zaria BENIN Minna Jebba Ilorin Ibadan Idogo Lagos Hvmg!pg!Hvjofb IRJ 22 Baro Oshogbo Itakpe Shagamu Iiebu Ode Ore
Benin Sapele
Warri
Agbor Abraka
Nnewi Yenagoa Ajaokuta Otukpo
Onitsha Enugu Abakaliki
Aba Eganyi Abuja Abaji Lokoja Lafia Makurdi
Obudu Cattle Ranch
CAMEROON Ikom Akampa Uyo Calabar Port Harcourt
1067mm gauge Existing lines
Standard gauge
Line nearing completion Lines under construction Proposed lines
0 Kaduna Jos Kafanchan Kuru N km 200 Bajoga Bauchi Gombe Maiduguri NIGER Nguru
weekly service in its first five months of operation. And while the trains are infrequent and plagued by mechanical faults and slow speeds - it takes around 30 hours to complete the journey - the government insists its opening will herald a new dawn for Nigerian Railways Corporation (NRC) as it begins to deliver on plans to reverse decades of decline and mismanagement. The government has committed
around $US 10bn to new projects and rehabilitation in the past six years. Construction contracts for seven cross- country projects have already been awarded while feasibility studies for eight more are set to be completed in the third quarter of this year. In total the government plans to allocate a further Naira 1.61 trillion towards 15 railway projects in its 2011-15 Transformation Agenda, with 13 projects receiving
Naira 44.45bn in this year’s budget announcement (see table on p25). Following the completion of the Lagos - Kano project by China Civil Engineering Construction (CCECC), which was responsible for the 486km section between Lagos and Jebba, and Costain West Africa which rehabilitated the 640km Jebba - Kano section, the emphasis has shifted to the 1657km eastern portion of the 1067mm-gauge network from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.
Rehabilitation of track, bridges and culverts is now well underway on the project which is divided into three lots after contracts for each were awarded in April 2011. Eser West Africa secured the Naira 19bn contract for Lot 1 which encompasses the 463km line from Port Harcourt; China Gezhouba Group Corporation Global Projects Nigeria is responsible for Lot 2, the 554km line from Makurdi to Kuru which includes branches to Jos and Kafanchan, after it won a Naira 24.45bn contract; and Lingo Nigeria is carrying out work on the 640km Kairu - Maiduguri line which makes up Lot 3 under a Naira 23bn contract.
Theft of clips, delays in delivering steel sleepers and other components from abroad, and a siege by a group claiming that it is the rightful owner
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