First overseas Chinese standard railway built by Chinese company safely operation for 900 days
On January 12, 2019, the Abuja-Kaduna Railway, built and technically supported by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Nigeria Limited, celebrated its 900th day of safe operation. The owner, Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), and CCECC Nigeria Limited held a celebration at the Idu Station, which was attended by Paschal A. Nnorli, project manager of the Abuja-Kaduna Railway, Di Jianping, deputy Party chief of CCECC Nigeria Limited, and Qian Hongxiang, deputy general manager of CCECC Nigeria Limited.
Paschal presented a medal and a letter of thanks to CCECC on behalf of NRC. He said that the Abuja-Kaduna Railway had been put into operation for 900 days without any accidents, and he would like to take the opportunity to express his heartfelt thanks to CCECC Nigeria Limited for its technical support. He added, the value of the railway business should be measured by how many jobs it has creates directly or indirectly and how many communities it has served directly or indirectly, rather than the profits it has brought, and the Abuja-Kaduna Railway has done well in this regard.
According to Qian Hongxiang, it was not easy to operate safely for 900 days, which was true even in China. In the 900 days, the Chinese side and the Nigerian sidehave cooperated smoothly, setting new standards for Nigerian railways and laying a solid foundation for the future of Nigerian railways.
Driving safety is the first priority, and to this end, the Chinese side have arranged a total of 17 Chinese technicians in dispatching, driving, maintenance and other front-line positions to provide round-the-clock training and supervision, so as to ensure the safe and smooth delivery of the railway to the Nigerian side, said Kong Tao, general manager of the project operation department for the Abuja-Kaduna Railway.
"Generally, there are more people traveling from Abuja to Kaduna on weekends, whileon Mondays and Tuesdays, there are relatively more people returning to Abujafrom along the Abuja-Kaduna Railway," said a resident from Kaduna. "The Abuja-Kaduna Railway makes travel safer, easier and cheaper. Today I came to see my brother who is living in Abuja. The Abuja-Kaduna Railway allows me to come to Abuja frequently. I come at least twice a week and at most four times!"
During the celebration, pupils fromaprimary school constructed with the donationfrom CCECC were also invited to visit the Idu Station. At the station, the pupils' paintings from the "Abuja-Kaduna Railway in My Eyes"competition were also displayed. "Flying Chinese Trains", the first-prize winner, showed the little contestant's hope for the future development of the railway.
CCECC Nigeria Limited has been here for many years and has long been part of Nigeria, said Fidet Okhiria, managing director of NRC, in an interview before the celebration, adding that the company always tries to do its best to meet the needs of the Nigerian side as far as possible, and the two sides have cooperated very happily.""
On July 26, 2016, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the official commercial operation of the Abuja-Kaduna Railway, and took the train for a test ride. According to the statistics of NRC, as of January 11, 2019, a total of 1,226,600 passengers had been transported on the Abuja-Kaduna Railway. In 2018, a total of 733,400 passengers were transported, an increase of 128.47 percent compared with that in 2017; the monthly number of passengers transported was 61,100 on average and 85,800 at the maximum;a total of 1,291 pairs of passenger trains were put into operation.
It is learned that on October 30, 2006, CCECC and Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Transportation signed a contract of 8.3 billion U.S. dollarsfor a modern double-track standard gauge railway project from Lagos in the south to Kano in the north. With a total length of 1,315 kilometers and a designed speed of 150 kilometers per hour, the railway would be built by fully adopting Chinese railway technical standards, and it would be China's first Chinese standard railway overseas. As the first section of the project, the Abuja-Kaduna Railway is now in operation, and the second section, the Lagos-Ibadan Railway, has also entered the track-laying stage.
The Abuja-Kaduna Railway covers a distance of 186.5 kilometers and links Nigeria's capital city of Abuja, Niger State and Kaduna State. It has helped relieve the transportation pressure, improve the investment environment and promote the coordinated regional economic and social development of the country. By virtue of its safe, comfortable and efficient operation and services, the Abuja-Kaduna Railway has won a good reputation and become the first choice in commuting for residents along the route. Even many important figures in Nigeria choose to take the railway for travel instead.
