It cost the federal government N1.7 billion ($4.7 million) to construct each kilometre of the186km Abuja-Kaduna rail project, Daily Trust investigations have revealed.
Our investigations showed that the cost is more expensive than other railway projects in Africa.
The $874 million (N317.3 billion) railway project was built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CECC).
An analysis of the cost and capacity of standard gauge rail (SGR) projects in other parts of Africa showed that the Abuja-Kaduna project is among the most expensive.
It beats Africa’s first modern trans-border electric rail which is located between Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Cost comparisons have been made between this line and Ethiopia’s 756km Addis Ababa-Djibouti line launched last year.
The Ethiopia-Djibouti rail which is double track, electrified and built at the cost of $3.4 billion.
This means it cost about $4.4 million (N1.5 billion) per kilometre in comparison to Nigeria’s single track and diesel-powered Abuja-Kaduna rail.
Abuja-Kaduna rail
Nigeria’s first standard gauge railway tracks start from Idu, near Abuja, to Rigasa in Kaduna. It features both passenger and cargo trains. The rail has nine stations and a designed speed of 150km per hour.
The cargo trains, carrying 800 tons of goods, will take one and half hours to travel between the two cities, according to Railway International.
Like the Ethiopia’s, the Abuja-Kaduna line was financed by the Chinese EXIM bank which provided $500 million as a concessionary loan for the project. The remainder was provided by the federal government.
The Abuja-Kaduna rail line was conceived by the Obasanjo administration. The track laying for the single standard gauge line was officially launched in July 2013 by President Goodluck Jonathan.
In October 2014, the federal executive council (FEC) approved $6.6 million for the procurement of two locomotives for the Abuja- Kaduna rail. However, the project was stalled due inadequate funding.
President Muhammadu Buhari administration revived the project in 2015 and inaugurated the line on July 26, 2016.
The project was the first segment to be implemented as part of the Lagos-Kano standard gauge project under the first standard gauge railway modernisation projects (SGRMP) in Nigeria.
Ethiopia- Djibouti electric rail
The 753km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway modernisation project, also known as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway, is the first modern electrified railway line in East Africa.
The project is jointly owned by the governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti and constructed by China Railway Group and (CCECC).
The project was initiated in 2011, it was completed and formally inaugurated for passenger services in October 2016.
It involved laying double-track for the first 115km from Addis Ababa to Adama, and single track for the remaining 600km to Djibouti.
Travelling at 120km/h, the train service cuts the journey time down from three days by road to about 12 hours.
The project employed approximately 20,000 local workers in Ethiopia and 5,000 in Djibouti
Another expensive rail
Findings by Daily Trust have shown that it’s not only Nigeria that gets rail costing more than usual.
Like Nigeria’s, the first Kenyan major modern railway, running between the capital Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa, is another Chinese project executed at “prohibitive cost,” which generated criticisms from Kenyans.
It was constructed at $5.6 million per kilometre for the track alone, making the line cost close to three times the international standard and four times the original estimate. This made it more expensive than Nigeria’s.
Kenya’s new 472km railway was financed by $3.2 billion Chinese loans.
Kenyan government advisers, Canadian Pacific Consulting Services (CPSC), had challenged its economic viability in a 2009 study before the even project started.
It described the project “cost prohibitive” using “even the most optimistic” traffic and income projections. But the government said many bridges and tunnels, land compensation, were responsible for the high cost.
Nigeria’s rail not over priced – NRC
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Engr. Fidet Okhiria told Daily Trust that Nigeria’s rail facilities are not over priced compared to other countries.
He said a lot of factors were considered in building a rail line and that impact cost. He said the cost of the rail also depends on the facilities being provided on the track as no rail line is ever the same.
In the case of Nigeria, he said rail contract included the provision of workshops, train stations, telecoms/signaling facilities and it is also double track rail facility.
According to him, Nigeria’s tracks are at least 150 pounds weighted. There are some rail lines for less he said, which means less cost.
“The Kenyan rail facility, for instance, cost $3.2 billion despite being 250km, less than that of Ethiopia. Each kilometer of the track alone is believed to cost $5.6 million.
“It is a 506 kilometre rail line also financed by the Chinese. The desert express in USA is over $10m per kilometer,” the Nigerian railway chief said.
“In fact even that of America, the same CRCC built it for them yet is expensive,” he said.
Why it’s expensive- CCECC
China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CECC), the firm that built the Abuja-Kaduna rail line explained to Daily Trust why the project was expensive.
In an interview in his office, the CCECC Deputy Managing Director Mr Qian Hongxiang, said unlike Ethiopia’s, the Abuja – Kaduna line has a curve radius of 160m which means that the track is straight.
“The Abuja – Kaduna line is a speed train at 150km per hour. This means the track must be straight. That is to say you don’t avoid rivers, hills, valleys or whatever. The track must be straight to avoid accident because of the speed of the train. This means more bridges, more bull dozing of rocks, and more money spent,” Mr Hongxiang said.
Another distinction from Ethiopia’s according to him is that, CCECC was granted tax exemption when it was building the Ethiopia – Djibouti line.
“But no tax exemption was granted to us in Nigeria for the Abuja – Kaduna rail. You know that we have to import almost everything for the project. And we have to pay tax,” he said.
Mr Hongxiang said design, bridges, stations, terrain, and environment, determine the cost of railway not necessarily the cost per kilometre.
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