On Thursday, April 18, 2019, officials of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria among others trooped to the Idu railway station, Abuja to mark the 1,000 days of “safe operation of the Abuja- Kaduna train service” offering services to over 1.5 million passengers so far.
The $1.457 billion Abuja-Kaduna Railway Project, constructed by the CCECC, officially commenced commercial operation on July 26, 2016, becoming the first modern railway in operation using China standards in Africa even as the NRC became the actual entity in charge of the operation of the project, while the CCECC provides technical support, training service and assistance to the commercial operation.
The Abuja-Kaduna Railway, Abuja Rail Mass Transit and Abuja New Terminal, constructed by the CCECC, forms up important parts of the capital city’s Three-dimensional Transportation Net, specifically ‘trunk railway+ urban light rail+ urban aviation+ urban public transport’.
The surge in the patronage of the rail services as observed by BusinessDay may have been attributed to its safety, comfort, convenience and perhaps affordability, which have drawn many commuters following the high risks on the Abuja- Kaduna expressway that is threatened by kidnappers, armed robbers and other kinds of criminals.
Speaking to reporters during the event, the Managing Director of the NRC, Freeborn Okhira, expressed satisfaction that the operations have for 1,000 days without major accident, without major disruption in the operation adding that there has never been any threat of the workers downing tools, describing it as “a major achievement.”
He however, assured the commuters that whatever shortcomings witnessed in the provision of service will be improved upon saying, “we are promising them that this year we will increase the number of trains we run before the end of the year. We will be able to target every hour train availability, one train up and one train down- that is our target and as you are all aware, we have already ordered for more coaches and they are going to be more beautiful than what we have and more relaxing.”
The NRC boss also assured that the issue of e- ticket is at an advanced stage adding the whole thing will be streamlined to make it better even as he added that the government still subsidizes the railway operations.
In his remarks the Managing Director of the CCECC, Jiang Yigao, said the Abuja-Kaduna Rail Project is “a significant achievement under the Belt and Roads Initiative between China and Nigeria.” He added that the NRC and CCECC have been working together to provide safe, comfortable and convenient service for all the passengers. He expressed satisfaction at the level of the commercial operation of the project and assured that “in the near future more and more modern railways will be built. And more and more Nigerians will enjoy safe, comfortable and convenient service by the railway”
“By April 22, 2019, this project has been in safe operation for 1,000 days without any passenger casualties or traffic accidents providing travel service for over 1.5 million passengers. A one-week passenger satisfaction survey conducted on July 5th, 2017, showed that more than 95% of passengers expressed high satisfaction with the railway service. Another survey conducted on April 8th, 2019 showed that more than 98% of passengers expressed their satisfaction with it,” Yigao added.
In the area of economic importance, the Abuja-Kaduna Railway Project, according Yigao, has created a major transportation channel from capital city Abuja to the important industrial city Kaduna, which has improved the investment environment, promoted business trade, travel and cargo transport between the two major cities in the country. It has also boosted economic development along the railway line and nearby cities.
The CCECC MD said that Abuja Kaduna railways is the first phase of the Nigeria railway modernization, the second phase -Lagos-Ibadan Railway is under construction and the progress is going well.
Speaking to BusinessDay on Thursday, one of the regular users of the Abuja- Kaduna train service, Charles Onunaiju, acknowledged the efficiency of the service. Onunaiju, who is the Director of the Center for China Studies, (CCS) an Abuja-based intellectual think tank, however, urged the federal government to take advantage of the Belt and Road initiative to access loans from Silk Road fund as well as the Asia Investment and Infrastructure Bank, to replicate the projects across the country especially in major cities to “create more employment opportunities for the teaming population and ease congestion on the roads.”
Another passenger, who preferred anonymity, lamented lack of adequate trains to cater to the growing number of people, stressing that “it is taking the government to long to bring the new coaches” which he added keep many passengers waiting for too long.
Overview
On October 30, 2006, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigeria entered into a contract agreement concerning the construction of Nigerian Railway Modernization Project, which is from the Southern city of Lagos to the northern city of Kano. While Abuja-Kaduna railway section is the first section of the Nigerian Railway Modernization Project, using China railway technical standards, and connecting the capital city of Abuja, the state of Niger and the state of Kaduna, with a total length of 186.5km and a maximum speed of 150km/h
On July 26, Abuja-Kaduna Railway Project officially commenced commercial operation, becoming the first modern railway in operation using China standard in Africa. At the moment NRC has 534 employees working for the operation of the Abuja-Kaduna Railway Project (including station service, train service, Communications service and signal service), covering actual routine operation work and regular maintenance work.
Employment
According to the CCECC in the construction period of the project, an average number of 2,391 local employees were directly employed each year, and a total number of 16,738 local employees were employed accumulatively. Since the commencement of operation, this project has directly provided about 1000 jobs, covering NRC staff, railway police, security guards, cleaners, and railway daily maintenance personnel.
During the construction period and the 1000-day safe operation, the project according to the CCECC, indirectly created about 150,000 jobs, mainly covering the fields of material production, subcontracting works, equipment manufacturing and related services. This railway project is seamlessly connected to the international airport, satellite city, industrial zone and downtown through Abuja Rail Mass Transit Project, which can effectively alleviate the traffic pressure on existing Municipal roads.
Abuja light rail
As the first light rail in West Africa, Abuja Rail Mass Transit also constructed by the CCECC provides the state with fresh means of travelling. It connects two other projects implemented by the CCECC: Abuja-Kaduna Railway Project and Abuja New Terminal project. It is available for passengers to transfer from Airport station to new terminal, and from Idu light rail station to Idu national railway station, building up a multi-dimensional and interconnected transport system of “trunk railway+ urban light rail +air traffic +city bus” to integrate land and airport. The concept feathers inter-connectivity and efficiency, making Abuja a hub and gateway linking to other parts of Nigeria, West Africa and even the world.
Innocent Odoh, Abuja
