NRC Invites Private Firms To Run Own Trains On Its Tracks

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), established for sole control of railways, is offering private operators access to its approximately 4,000 km rail network for a fee, provided they supply their own locomotives and rolling stock.

Kayode Opeifa, managing director of the NRC, said the corporation grants what it calls track access, permitting private and private companies to operate on railway infrastructure built with public funds.

“You can bring your train, bring your locomotive, bring your wagons, bring your everything. We will run it on it. You just pay us your money. We don’t want to run the trains alone,” Opeifa told stakeholders Tuesday at BusinessDay’s Mobility and Logistics conference in Lagos.

He compared the arrangement to road users paying tolls, arguing that operators, not just the corporation, should have access to railway infrastructure.

The director noted the Lagos State Government as a pilot beneficiary, licensed to use the Lagos rail corridor via the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority.

The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) also received a three-year license from the NRC to operate a self-operated railway freight service. That made it the first private and foreign contractor authorised to run standard-gauge rail freight services in Nigeria.

The programme could allow private operators to expand freight services and passenger mobility without requiring the NRC to provide every train and wagon.

“By encouraging qualified operators to utilise available railway infrastructure under an appropriate regulatory and operational framework, we can expand freight capacity, improve efficiency, attract investment and strengthen the role of rail in Nigeria’s logistics value chain,” Opeifa said.

The NRC plans to rehabilitate the legacy Lagos-Kano narrow-gauge railway and restore viable operations towards Kano, with proposed extensions towards Nguru and Kaura Namoda as part of efforts to woo private investors.

Opeifa identified reconstruction of the Baro-Minna narrow-gauge railway as a priority for the corporation.

The proposed link would connect Baro Port with the Lagos-Kano narrow-gauge line at Minna, potentially improving the movement of agricultural produce and industrial goods through combined inland-waterway and rail transport.

Opeifa’s broader railway development framework, Vision 2:5:10:20, aims to expand the network from approximately 4,000 kilometres towards 10,000 kilometres by 2028 and ultimately towards 20,000 kilometres over the longer term.

He said the immediate priority was to make better use of existing infrastructure while pursuing expansion and attracting private investment.

The corporation has big plans to build new standard-gauge connections to connect its production zones to its seaports.

Opeifa mentioned plans for a standard gauge from the Lagos-Ibadan railway corridor to Apapa Port and onward to Tin Can Island Port.

A corridor linking Lekki Deep Sea Port to the wider national network through Ijebu-Ode and Sagamu to Kajola, where it would connect with the Lagos-Kano Standard Gauge Railway is also on the ballot.