Rail in Nigeria

[DBNR]

Interesting report here from last month concerning new rail investment in Nigeria with loan support from China - more infratstructure on the continent supported

 

[nanstallon]

Will China gradually build a Cape to Cairo railway?

 

[zero]

Weird coincidence that you've posted this just after a recently-built long-distance passenger train was attacked by terrorists

Abuja-Kaduna train attack: Passengers killed after Nigeria gang hits rail link

Gunmen surrounded the carriages and opened fire - an unknown number of people have been abducted.

www.bbc.com

Shortly after that train began operations I read this interesting "trip report" where the reporter tried to "bash" all the stations

Nigeria’s railway people: Life alongside a high-speed rail link

A Chinese-backed railway was supposed to reinvigorate communities along its route, but residents have mixed feelings.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[superalbs]

What on earth is that loco!? Looks like a Finnish Pendolino.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

There are multiple reports of serious investment in railway projects in Nigeria. A small number of them actually happen.

25/11/14
A $US11.97 billion assignment to build Nigeria's new 'coastal railway' is said to be China's largest single overseas contract project to date. China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), a large state-owned entity, is to build the entirely new west-east railway from Lagos to Calabar, about 1,402km.

No progress?

19/11/15
The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) began work on phase 1 of the $US2.5 billion Lagos light rail project in 2010. Running from Marina to Okokomaiko, with 13 stations, it was hoped initially to have the 27.5km “Blue Line” working in 2014, but by the end of 2015 it is still unfinished.

Still unfinished?

18/1/22

The governor of Lagos State, Nigeria is visiting Wisconsin this week to buy two trainsets that were originally built for the state of Wisconsin.
"They'll actually be in service -- serving people and providing a new transit option in another community," said Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson during a news conference on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
The Spanish company Talgo, which has a plant at 27th and Townsend in Milwaukee's Century City business park, manufactured the trains 11 years ago.

But they have bought two long disused Talgo trainsets for the Red Line. Not ideal for commuter services some have suggested.

30/5/17
NIGERIA: A consortium led by GE of the USA has been confirmed by the government as preferred bidder for a concession to rehabilitate, finance and operate the 3 505 km Nigeria Railway Corp network, GE announced on May 25.

Abandoned.

Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail line
Commenced 1987, finally opened 2020?

Then there is the branch from the East Line at Elelenwo (near Port Harcourt) to Onne Port. Visible on satellite imagery for much of the route - temporary diversions of roads around half built bridges abandoned for decades (since the civil war?).
Try 4°46'06.4"N 7°07'14.3"E / 4.768434, 7.120632
Or 4°46'51.1"N 7°06'48.6"E / 4.780861, 7.113489

As a novelty, spot the long abandoned locomotive hiding in the oil refinery:
4°45'46.6"N 7°06'22.4"E / 4.762939, 7.106219
Perhaps one of the four built by Brush with Paxman power units for Kaduna Oil Refinery in 1979?

​

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Apr 2022 ==

What on earth is that loco!? Looks like a Finnish Pendolino.

I don't have my CRRC Platform Five pocket book to hand, but perhaps it is a NDJ3N?

April 2019
China Civil Engineering Construction Corp has awarded CRRC Qishuyan a contract to supply:

• four NDJ3N diesel multiple-units (2 power cars and 7 intermediate vehicles each),
• two DF7GN shunting locomotives,
• six DF11GN passenger locomotives and
• nine DF8BN freight locomotives.

The first batch of 10 of the 1,435 mm gauge diesel locomotives is scheduled to be delivered in October for Abuja – Kaduna and Lagos and Ibadan lines.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Apr 2022 ==

Will China gradually build a Cape to Cairo railway?

Egypt / Sudan are proposing a link between their systems. That would just leave Wau in South Sudan to Uganda, probably near Gulu. Plus the re-instatement of some other long out of use lines.

It would meander to say the least, it would have changes of gauge, it would seem to have little benefit as a through route, but yes a physical rail link from Cape to Cairo.

 

[StephenHunter]

Cecil Rhodes would be spinning in his grave.

 

[Gostav]

I found an interesting quote by a Chinese businessman in 2020, the original text is in Chinese, Google translate was used to convert to English.

非洲创业日记--《尼日利亚的铁路实拍》

周一的下午，与一个新的货代公司约好，去拜访其公司，黑人告知在Apapa的火车站，我当时就一直想，这几年我经常在Apapa跑，怎么就不知道原来Apapa还有铁路呢？结果到了才知道，原来在每天路过的路段旁边，进去了才…

zhuanlan.zhihu.com

Nigeria theoretically has railways covering 9 states with a total mileage of 3,505 kilometers, but due to disrepair and chaotic management, the only ones that can really carry out commercial operations have long been only from the economic capital Lagos to the neighboring Ijoko City, Ogun State, a section of railway with a length of about 30 kilometers. The Lagos-Kano railway passes through the two major ethnic groups of Yoruba and Hausa and many conflicting federal subjects. Not only is the project complicated and non-technical factors Many, coupled with the rampant corruption in Nigeria, so although the project has been proposed for nearly 10 years, it has been delayed. This can't help but remind me last year that the new government suspended the contract signed two years ago with CCECC (China Civil Engineering Corporation) for the reconstruction of the railway, worth about 8.5 billion US dollars. The economic capital of Lagos is directly connected to the northern commercial town of Kano. CCECC is responsible for "design, construction and maintenance", and CCECC has won a special loan of 1 billion US dollars from the Chinese government for the Nigeria side. However, the new government believes that former President Obasanjo has "greatly engaged in construction" and "has a lot of joy", and the contract signed by him needs to be "reconsidered". In fact, in the past two years, the project has received about 250 million US dollars, much less than the contract. In this African country with poor materials, reliance on imported raw materials, widespread corruption, lack of funds, and lax management, the difficulty can be imagined. In an interview with the media, a spokesperson for CCECC said that "it has done its best and achieved something." , did not directly give a reasonable explanation of the progress. What happened to the contract after that, I don't know. The only thing that can be imagined is that it is not easy for our Chinese compatriots to be abroad, can imagine the difficulties in carrying out engineering construction in this country. Posted on 2020-02-24 15:01

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I found an interesting post by a Chinese businessman in 2020, the original text is in Chinese, Google translate was used to convert to English.

From the businessman's quote:

The only thing that can be imagined is that it is not easy for our Chinese compatriots to be abroad, can imagine the difficulties in carrying out engineering construction in this country.

Understatement of the year!


There are proposals to re-instate, again, the eastern line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.

The draft Environmental and Social Impact Assessment has the following:

Acknowledgements
FMoT [Federal Ministry of Transportation] wishes to thank GOD ALMIGHTY and then the regulators at the Federal Ministry of Environment, (FMEnv), Rivers, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Benue, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, and Borno Ministries of Environment and all the 65 affected Local Government Areas and various other institutional stakeholders for their various supports for the ESIA of this project.

We are also grateful to the Traditional rulers, Council of chiefs, women, Youth, and all who were of assistance to the success of this study.

The document is too large to upload but this is my summary:

The Port Harcourt – Maiduguri Narrow Gauge Railway project shall entail the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the existing 1,443km Nigerian Eastern Railway Line from Port Harcourt in Rivers State and terminates in Maiduguri, Borno State traversing sixty five (65) Local Government Areas in twelve States with the following components:

• Construction of 216km Gashua Branch Line: Goniri – Gashua narrow gauge
• Construction of 200km Kaduna Connecting line: Kafanchan – Rigachikun narrow gauge
• Construction of 35km Jos Branch line: Kuru – Jos narrow gauge
• Construction of New Rgachikun and Assa Transshipment Stations

The Bonny – Onne – Elelenwo – Ubima – Owerri Branch Line in Rivers and Imo States shall entail the construction of the following:

• 16km Port Harcourt – New Elelenwo narrow gauge with 1 station
• 4km Elelenwo – Bonny narrow gauge with 3 stations in the short, middle and long term, including 2 intermediate stations and 1 passing loop.
• 02km Onne – Onne Port branch line with 1 intermediate station
• 85km Elelenwo – Owerri Branch line with 3 intermediate stations in the short term and 1 passing loop.