Credit Jonathan For Abuja-Kaduna Rail, PDP to Buhari

Nigeria’s main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the commissioning of the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge rail line and flagging off of commercial operations on it.

PDP in a statement made available to our reporter, said credit must be given to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan for the conceptualization of the project. The party also praised the immediate past coordinating minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo Nwela for the work put into the structure of the project.


“We congratulate the people of Nigeria who can enjoy the benefits of this revolutionary service.

We must commend former President @GEJonathan for the conceptualisation of the project as a standard gauge rail line. We sincerely hope the project fulfils the dreams he had of greater integration between the cities of Abuja & Kaduna.

“We also commend @NOIweala for the work put into the structure of the project. It is important to note that the structure of this project ensured that it didn’t suffer the fate of many projects before it which are abandoned by successive administrations.

The 185 km Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge rail line is one of the first standard gauge rail lines in Nigeria & was constructed by China Civil Engineering & Construction Company (CCECC). The project features cargo & passenger trains. 4000 people were employed during construction & at inception, the project was projected to employ 5000 people for its operations.

Passenger trains on the line can operate for speeds of up to 200kms per hour while cargo trains can travel at speeds up to 150kms per hour.Travel time between the two cities will be 1hr & 1hr30mins for passenger & cargo trains respectively.  The rail line has 9 stations and cost $874m. Of this figure, $500m was provided by the China Exim Bank as a concessionary loan while the Jonathan administration paid $374m as counterpart funding.

The rail line included the construction of 30 railway bridges, including 5 box bridges. Construction on the rail line commenced in February 2011 & ended in December 2014. The 9 stations were in advanced stages of completion when the Jonathan admin handed over. “This project is the first in a series of developmental projects conceptualised & inistiated by the Jonathan admin. Others that will soon be completed include the new terminals at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport & Akanu Ibiam Internation Airport, Enugu,” PDP said.