THE 157-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge railway in Nigeria has officially started commercial operations following an inauguration by President Buhari at the Mobolaji J
ohnson Railway Station, Ebute Metta, Lagos.
According to the president, ‘this vital line establishes an end-to-end logistic supply chain in railway transport within its short corridor, Lagos – Ibadan, as goods to the hinterland would now be transported by rail directly from the Apapa port Quayside straight to the Inland Container Depot located in Ibadan from where it can be distributed to other parts of the country.
new rail corridor
Shortly after he inaugurated the project, President Buhari took a ride from Ebute Metta Station to the Energy Nature Light (ENL) Terminal, which is located in the Port of Apapa. He was accompanied by the country’s Minister of Transportation, Speaker of House of Representatives, Governor of Lagos State, the Lagos State Minister of Transportation, and Ekiti, Oyo, and Ogun state governors as well as the Deputy Governor of Ondo and some other government officials.
A segment of Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway
The Lagos-Ibadan railway line is a part of the 1,343-kilometres (835 miles) Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway that is expected to connect the country’s two largest cities, the Atlantic Ocean port of Lagos in the southwest, and Kano, near the border with Niger, in the north upon completion.
The railway line is being built in segments with the first segment, between Abuja and Kaduna, already complete and operational since July 2016. The second segment between Lagos and Ibadan was completed last year and it began limited passenger operations in December, the same year, prior to the official start of commercial operation in June this year.
Other segments include the 200 kilometres Ibadan-Osogbo-Ilorin, Osogbo–Ado Ekiti, 270 kilometres Ilorin-Minna, Minna–Abuja, and the 305 kilometres Kaduna-Kano sections.
