Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge Railway Completed

ABUJA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) — Chinese
rail construction giant China
Railway Construction
Corporation (CRCC) on Monday
officially rounded off the track
laying work of Nigeria's first
standard gauge railway
modernization project linking
the capital city Abuja and the
northwestern state of Kaduna.
With Nigeria's Minister of
Transport Idris Umar tightening
the last screw of the rail track
at a well-attended ceremony,
the first standard rail road
project of the Chinese firm in
Nigeria and the entire West
Africa is formally complete for
public use, CRCC said.
Constructed in three years, the rail
road project gulped nearly 850
million U.S dollars and lasts 186.5
km with nine stations and a design
speed of 150 km per hour.
Umar, while expressing satisfaction
on the project on behalf the
Nigerian government and people of
Africa's most populous country,
described the project as a
significant milestone in the history
of Nigeria, as well as a testimony
that the transformation agenda of
the government was yielding fruitful
results.
"I am delighted to be here to
perform yet another milestone
of the Nigerian railway
modernization project," Umar
said, noting it will ease the
mass movement of people from
the Nigerian capital city to the
northwestern state of Kaduna.
"We are committed to carry out a lot
of modernization projects to make
transportation easier for all
Nigerians," the official added.
Shi Hongbing, managing director of
the Nigerian office of China Civil
Engineering Construction
Corporation (CCECC), an offshoot of
CRCC, said the company would take
part in the running and
management of the train in the
future.
"With the completion of the track
laying, it shows we are competent,"
the CCECC top manager in Nigeria
said.
"I want to thank all the people who
helped us during the construction,"
he added, acknowledging,
especially, the cooperation and
hospitable nature of people of the
local communities which the rail
project passed through.
"The completion of the rail road
is a guarantee for the running
of the rail road next year. It will
boost the confidence of the
Chinese firm and also the
determination of Nigeria. And
this is a good example of the
coast rail road project of the
West African country," said
Chairman of CRCC Meng
Fengchao in a message sent
from Beijing, capital of China.
Earlier, Cao Baogang, vice chairman
of CRCCCAC, described the project
as a "miracle", noting it was
completed "under the pressure of
Ebola and the security problem in
Nigeria."
The Abuja-Kaduna rail line is
one of the first Standard Gauge
Railway Modernization Projects
(SGRMP) undertaken in Nigeria.
The railway modernization
initiative in Nigeria aims at
replacing the existing narrow
gauge system with the wider
standard gauge system, while
allowing high-speed train
operations on the railway
network.
Posted By David Aniemeka