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Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Railway: 20 Things To Know About This New Railway Line
Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Railway
- Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Railway project was first awarded in 1987.
- It is a 276-kilometres railway-line.
- The railway line is otherwise known as the Central Railway Line.
- The railway line was originally designed for the transportation of Iron Ore to Ajaokuta (Kogi) and Aladja steel Rolling mills (Delta State). It was also designed to transport processed steel to the port in Warri, Delta State.
- The project was initially planned to be delivered in five years. However, it was abandoned for over 30 years due to paucity of funds.
- The construction of the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri railway line was abandoned after about 254 kilometres had been constructed.
- The railway line would have been the first standard gauge railway line in Africa if it had it not been abandoned.
- In 2009, the construction of the Itakpe-Warri railway line was reactivated. The Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government approved N33bn for the redesign and completion of the remaining 22 kilometres.
- The contract for the construction of the railway line was awarded. It was awarded to Team Nigeria and Julius Berger PLC. The project was meant to be delivered in March 2013.
- The new construction contract covered other areas. They include the construction of the sidings of the Ajaokuta-Warri rail line up to Delta Steel Aladja. It also involved the construction of six stations. The rehabilitation of the completed and vandalized portion of the line was also included.
- The Itakpe-Warri railway line was redesigned to provide passenger service. It was originally conceived as a cargo rail, was
- After the change of Federal Government in 2015, The project was abandoned. It was abandoned after 70% completion due to lack of funds.
- In 2017, the new administration of Mohammadu Buhari announced that they funding the revival of the Itakpe-Warri rail line at a cost estimate $200 million (N72 billion). The plan was to get the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail line ready for commercial operations by 2019.
14. The project was re-awarded to three construction firms. They are Julius Berger, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), and ZTE.
- 12 new stations were proposed between Itakpe and Warri in a new arrangement. Two stations would be between Itakpe and Ajaokuta. The remaining 10 would stretch between Ajaokuta and Warri. They include Itakpe; Eganiy; Adobe; Itogbo; Agenebode; Uromi; Egehen; Igbanke; Agbor; Abraka; Okpara and Ujewu stations.
16. The railway line will connect 3 states: Kogi, Edo and Delta State and ultimately the FCT, Abuja.
- In July 2018, two coaches (trains) on the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Railway were relocated. They were relocated to the Abuja-Kaduna railway line. This was due to the sudden upsurge of passengers on the new Abuja-Kaduna train service as a result of the activities of kidnappers along that route. The previous government acquired the trains for the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Rail line. The relocation of the trains was on the orders of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
- Trains on the line were going to run at 120 to 150km per hour because it is a standard gauge railway line.
19. On completion, the line will have the capacity for four trains of 32 wagons in its first phase and eventually increase to eight trains of 64 wagons.
- In October 2019, the government signed a N1.4trillion ($3.9 billion) contract with China Railway Construction Corporation Limited. The contract was to extend the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Railway line to the national capital of Abuja.
