Nigerian Railway Corporation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nigerian Railway Corporation is the government body operating railways in Nigeria.

Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) operates a network of 3505 km of single track lines, all have 1067 mm gauge. The network comprises the following lines:

Lagos - Agege - Ifaw - Ibadan - Ilorin - Minna - Kaduna - Zaria - Kano, 1126 km

Ifaw - Ilaro, 20 km

Minna - Baro, 155 km

Zaria - Kaura Namoda, 245 km

Kano - Nguru,

Kaduna - Kafanchan - Kuru - Bauchi - Maiduguri, 885 km

Kuru - Jos, 55 km

Kafanchan - Makurdi - Enugu - Port Harcourt, 737 km

This map is roughly to scale.

There are a few extensions of the 1067 mm gauge network planned, but none of these have ever materialized since 1980, from Gusau on the branch to Kaura Namoda to Sokoto (215 km), from Kano to Katsina (175 km) and from Lagos to Asaba.

in the centre of the country a 1435 mm gauge network is very slowly progressing, its main line extends over 217 km from Oturkpo to the Ajaokuta steelwork. A further 51,2 km line of 1435 mm gauge is operational between the Itakp mines and the Ajaokuta steelworks. There are plans to add more 1435 mm gauge lines to these ones: Ajaokuta to Abuja and Ajaokuta to the Port of Warri, together 500 km and from Port Harcourt to Makurdi over a distance of 463 km.

in the past a 762 mm gauge line operated between Zaria and Jos over a distance of 194 km, but this line has been closed and lifted long ago

NRC went more than once into bankrupcy during the last 20 years. Lack of maintenance on infrastructure and rolling stock and a high number of employees the railway produced huge deficits, not taken over by the state. In 2005 after several re-organisations of the system passenger transport was reduced to four departures weekly from Lagos of which two went to Kano, one to Jos and one to Maiduguri; from Port Harcourt four trains every week ran to Kano (two weekly, one weekly to Jos and one to Maiduguri.

All these trains are offering relatively new rolling-stock consisting of Couchette-type sleepers, air-conditioned first class sitting coaches and non-aircon economy class coaches. Trains to/from Lagos are also offering buffet cars. Between Lagos and Ifaw, a distance of 48 km, a local service is operating on working days on behalf of the city of Lagos.

All trains are diesel operated. The railways owns theoretically nearly 200 locomotives, of which up to 75% are not operational, there are also about 54 shunters, 480 passenger coaches and over 4900 freight wagons, less than 50% of the coaches and wagons are in serviceable conditions.

At all 576 km of main lines are controlled by panel interlocking and tokenless block. Rail tracks are mainly of the 29,8 kg/m, 34,7 kg/m and 39,7 kg/m types fixed by Pandrol K Type fastenings on steel sleepers (cross ties).

News from Nigeria are indicating that the current (2006) government wants to rebuild more or less the entire existing 1067 mm network to standart gauge (1435 mm).

All Information by NRC and from Fahrplancenters archives.