Nigerian Railway Corporation Targets 10,000km Rail Network in Five Years

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has unveiled plans to expand the nation’s rail network from the current 4,000 kilometres to 10,000 kilometres within the next five years, with a long-term vision of reaching 20,000 kilometres in 20 years.

Managing Director Dr. Kayode Opeifa disclosed the ambitious targets during an interview, stressing that Nigeria’s current rail infrastructure is insufficient to meet the country’s economic and population needs. “In the next five years, we hope to increase the length of tracks to about 10,000 kilometres. By another 10 years after that, we want to move Nigeria to about 20,000 kilometres of rail lines,” he said.

Opeifa noted that private sector involvement would be crucial to achieving the expansion goals, as government funding alone cannot support infrastructure of this scale. He said the NRC is open to concessioning arrangements and partnerships, offering sovereign guarantees to investors in line with global best practices.

The expansion is part of a larger national rail roadmap designed to strengthen connectivity across key economic corridors and boost productivity. Key corridors under development include Lagos-Kano, Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, and Ajaokuta-Abuja, which will enhance the movement of people and goods between the South and the North.

According to Opeifa, both narrow gauge and standard gauge lines are operational, and the corporation is aggressively recovering locomotives and wagons to improve efficiency and capacity utilisation. He also emphasised community ownership of railway assets as a strategy to combat vandalism, particularly along the Warri-Itakpe corridor.

Collaboration with state governments, including Lagos, Zamfara, Plateau, Niger, and Ogun, is underway to maximise rail usage. Private operators are already participating in logistics operations, with 28 companies licensed to move goods from Apapa Port to destinations such as Oyingbo, Papalanto, Kajola, and Osogbo.

Opeifa described the NRC’s state a year ago as being in intensive care, adding that cooperation from workers and renewed investor confidence have helped revive Nigeria’s rail sector.