By Patience Saghana
Railway Constructions Pakistan Limited (RAILCOP) has expressed its interest to revamp the Nigeria Railway system if given the opportunity by the Nigerian government.

RAILCOP offers construction services in engineering fields like railways, roads, bridges, public health engineering, signalling and  telecommunication, power generation and transmission.

Pakistan has put forward its proposal to refurbish the country’s railyway lines, following the nation’s three-phase project which included the Abuja- Kaduna railway project.

RAILCOP established itself as a specialised company for construction of high-speed railway track and construction of pre-stressed concrete and steel girder bridges.

Railcop’s, whose   proposal is being considered by the Nigerian government,   according to the Pakistan Deputy High Commission, Mr Ahmed Ali Sirohey, wishes to be part of the companies to restore the nations’ railway system including the 186.5km-long Abuja- Kaduna railway project which is expected to have nine stations and 18 bridges
President Olusegun Obasanjo had signed a contract with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to modernise the Lagos to Kano railway line.

This is the first phase of the proposed 3 phase line upgrade. The project has been split up into 5 sections namely Lagos-Ibadan (181 km), Ibadan-Ilorin (200 km), Ilorin-Minna (270 km), MinnaAbujaKaduna (360 km), and Kaduna-Kano (305 km).

The country’s railways are in a parlous condition with poorly maintained rail system that has 3,557 kilometers of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge track. The country has two major rail lines: one connects Lagos on the Bight of Benin and Nguru in the northern state of Yobe; the other connects Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta and Maiduguri in the north-eastern state of Borno.

In order to remedy the poor condition, inefficiency, and profitability of the nation’s railways, the government is seeking to privatize the Nigerian Railway Corporation. Under the privatization plan, three separate concessions of 2530 years would be granted to private-sector companies to run train services in the western, central, and eastern regions

Olusegun Aganga, The Minister of Finance said that the Abuja-Kaduna Railway project would create about 4,300 jobs, provide physical environment for private sector development and human capital development.

“The contractors engaged for the Abuja-Kaduna Rail project will build an industrial park in Idu in Abuja”.
“They will establish a training centre for rail operations and management at no additional cost to government,” he said.