The Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali, has assured that the first segment of Kano-Maradi rail project, the Kano-Daura section, will be completed by 2025.
Alkali made this announcement on Thursday at the Kazaure rail campsite in Jigawa during a media chat following an inspection tour of the ongoing Kano-Maradi and Kaduna-Kano rail projects.
The information was detailed in a statement by Muhammad Tahir Zakari, Assistant Director for Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Transportation.
“I have just discussed with the contractor that we are going to segment the Kano-Maradi project by the grace of God. We are going to put Kano-Daura next year and Daura to Maradi in 2026 and Dutse to Kano in 2026,” the Minister assured.
Accompanied by a team of engineers from the Nigeria Railway Corporation, project consultants, and contractors, Alkali noted significant progress has been made since his last visit to the project site.
He said that the contractors have started preparing the rail lines and sleepers and will use locomotives to transport materials along the rail line.
More insight
The statement further indicated that Saidu Alkali had earlier inspected the existing narrow gauge railway line connecting Lagos to Kano.
The Transportation Minister noted that upon completion and operationalization, the Lagos-Kano narrow gauge rail line would facilitate the optimal use of the Dala Inland Dry Port for transporting cargo by rail from Lagos to Kano, demonstrating the Federal Government’s efforts to facilitate trade in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the Minister stated that freight services on the Lagos-Kano rail line would begin next month, in June.
“We are going to put the freight hopefully in the next month on the narrow gauge from Lagos to Kano,” he assured.
What you should know
- The Federal Government has intensified efforts to enhance rail transportation across the country through the modernization of various rail projects and the completion of segments of ongoing rail line constructions nationwide.
- Recently, following the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt-Aba segment of the Eastern Narrow Railway project, the Federal Government initiated passenger operations a few weeks ago.
- With freight services on the Lagos-Kano narrow gauge rail line set to commence next month, and the completion of the Kano-Daura rail segment planned for 2025, along with the Daura-Maradi and Dutse-Kano segments scheduled for completion in 2026, and several other rail projects currently underway, Nigerians will increasingly view rail travel as an attractive means of transportation between states and for moving cargo across the country.
- Based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) recorded revenue of N6 billion in 2023. It is projected that as more rail lines are completed nationwide, there will be a rise in ridership and cargo movements, leading to further revenue growth for the government.