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| Image esanland.org passengers boarding the free test ride in Agbor Station |
The Economic Importance to Esanland & Edo State
Brief History of
Warri Itakpe Rail Project
Abandoned over three
decades ago now almost in its final completion by Buhari Administration
ALL over the world
and for several centuries, rail transportation has been the foundation of
industrialisation, economic efficiency and productivity. This explains why
developed economies continue to expand and fine-tune its rail transportation,
while the developing economies strive to build their rail network and expand
the same. For instance, the rail infrastructure stock in the United States of
America increased 16-fold from 14,000 kilometres in 1850 to over 220,000
kilometres today. The United States’ rail network has annual revenues of about
$60 billion, provides 221,000 jobs and delivers 5 million tons of freight and
transports approximately 85,000 passengers every day. Findings show that
one-third of all exports from the United States are facilitated by rail
transport.
In 1955 NRC rail Act
was passed to the name The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). The rail network
reached its maximum extent shortly after independence in 1964. Shortly after
that, the NRC entered a long period of decline, inept management, and
eventually a complete lack of maintenance of rail and locomotive assets. In
1988, NRC declared bankruptcy, and all rail traffic stopped for six months.
After that, trains resumed, where the tracks were usable but by 2002, passenger
service was again discontinued altogether. However, from 2006, plans were made
to restore the rail lines and add new locomotives with foreign assistance. Then
in December 2012 regular, scheduled passenger service was restored on the
Lagos-Kano line.
Rail transportation
is key to industrialisation; the founding fathers of the nation grafted the
rail system into the plan and enlisted the country in the comity of
industrialised nations. However, when they thought about the Ajaokuta Steel Company, they factored in the Ajaokuta-Itakpe-Warri rail lines. As
part of the larger plan for the Ajaokuta project, the Itakpe-Warri rail line
was conceptualised in 1983, particularly to transport products from the complex
to Aladja Steel Rolling Mills, in Aladja, Delta State and the Warri Ports for
onward export and the likes. The project otherwise called the central line was
initially planned to be delivered in five years but was abandoned after the
initial contractors, Julius Berger Nigeria Limited had constructed about 254
kilometres. And for 35 years, the
project remained moribund as was the case with the mother project, Ajaokuta
Steel Company. When the idea was mooted, it was to freight iron ore
from Itakpe, a city sitting on a resource which metric tonnage projected to
last some centuries. There were several other mineral resources buried
underground along the stretch, including dolomite, limestone, beside the
abundance of agro produce within the zone. At conception, the line was to be
the first standard gauge rail in Africa and one of the leading few across the
world with the speed capacity of between 120 and 150 kilometres per hour. The
plan was to dedicate the line for the exclusive use of Ajaokuta.
As an industrial
line, it was a critical element in the nation’s march towards
industrialisation, as it was meant to freight iron ore from Itakpe and Dolomite
from Jakura to Ajaokuta Steel complex and to take liquid steel from Ajaokuta to
service Aladja Steel Company. The line was also to take other finished
materials to the seaport of Warri, from where other foreign components of the nation’s
steel ambition would be brought in. Unfortunately, the project remained
moribund for decades even after the initial investments in the range of
millions of United States Dollars (USD) were pumped into the project. During
the years of neglect, the initial contractors, Julius Berger Nigeria Limited
pulled out of site. The neglect of the rail project by successive
administration effectively stalled the nation’s quest for industrialisation.
The neglect continued until the President Muhammadu Buhari administration
decided to revisit the rail project in line with its plan to fix the nation’s economy with particular emphasis on diversifying the nation’s foreign exchange
earnings from its age-long over-dependence on the oil sector. In recognition of
the strategic importance of rail transportation, therefore, in 2017
Budget and the 2018 Budget proposal, the Federal Government provisioned more
than 300 billion nairas for railway projects mainly at fifteen per cent
counterpart funds to unlock additional concessionary funding from the Chinese
Export-Import Bank.
Interestingly, while
revisiting the need to resuscitate the rail project, the incumbent
administration recognised the need to expand the scope of the project for
optimum utilisation. To that end, the administration decided to expand the line
from being exclusively for industrial goods to also include commercial
passenger use. By this arrangement, 12 new stations were introduced into the
project. While two of the stations were located between Itakpe and Warri, the
others were cited in different locations between Ajaokuta and Warri. The
stations are located in Itakpe, Eganiy, Adoke and Ajaoukuta, Itogbo, Agenebode
and Uromi all of which were contracted to the China Civil Engineering and
Construction Company (CCECC). Buhari
administration has achieved what successive administrations have failed to
achieve in over three decades
Culled from Nigeria Tribune Jan 31, 2019
Warri Itakpe Railway Central Line Project
The Economic importance to Esanland & Edo State
Number of Rail Stops in Esanland
Answer: 2 Rain stations in Uromi.
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| Image esanland.org: Uromi Station construction ongoing |
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| Image esanland.org: Uromi Station construction ongoing |
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| Image esanland.org: Uromi Station construction ongoing |
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| Image esanland.org: Uromi Station construction ongoing |
Though NRC (Nigeria
Railway Corporation) plan to construct halt stations, along the rail corridor
that are nearer to the communities for easy access, hopefully, Igueben and
Ubiaja will have a halt station.
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| Image esanland.org: Igbanke Station construction ongoing |
Amenities on the Rail Coaches:
1) Train marshals who are armed policemen on
every train coach and station
2) Toilets
3) Board games
4) Entertainment TV screen
5) Fully air-conditioned cars
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| Toilet facility |
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| board games |
WEEKLY DAILY WARRI ITAKPE SCHEDULE
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| Image esanland.org: Free ticket for a test ride |
DAILY COMMERCIAL SERVICE:
The train departs Aladja, Urjevwu Warri, Delta State by 8:00 AM to Itakpe Kogi State
The train departs Aladja, Urjevwu Warri, Delta State by 8:00 AM to Itakpe Kogi State
ARRIVED Itakpe Kogi State by 1:30 PM
DEPART for Warri-Delta State by 2:00 PM
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| Image esanland.org: Itakpe Warri Rail Central Line |
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| Image esanland.org: Train marshals |
What are the economic benefits to Esanalnd, Edo
State?
1) Faster safer and cheaper movement of goods
and services people
2) Jobs creation
3) Cheaper export of Commodities to Overseas and Northern
Nigeria once Itakpe, Kogi State is connected to Warri Seaport and Abuja Kaduna line on its 2nd
phase construction which has already awarded by the Federal Government.
4) LGA/Private sector can build warehouses,
stores, hotels etc close to stations for freight services to earn extra
revenue. As these services are not yet available.
5) The economic benefit is huge for
Esanland/Local Government if properly utilized, especially in the area of value-added
chains in agriculture. It means ease of agricultural export and produces
through Warri Port. In terms of value-added chains, most agricultural produce
can be produced in Esanland, Edo State thereby adding value instead of just
exporting raw.
6) Local
Government need to have a well-coordinated development plan in their corridor
for better economic revenue generation for the Local Council.
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| Image esanland.org: Agbor Station construction ongoing |
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| Image esanland.org: Agbor Station construction ongoing |
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| Image esanland.org: Agbor Station construction ongoing |
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| Image esanland.org: Agbor Station construction ongoing |
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| Image esanland.org: Agenegbode Station construction ongoing |
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| Image esanland.org: Agenegbode Station construction ongoing |
The
Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail line passes through the following communities in:
Delta State
(Aladja, Urjevwu, Orhowhorun, Agbarho, Ovwori, Okpara Inland, Abraka and Urhonigbe),
In Edo State (Idumuesah, Ewossa, Agbor, Ekpon, Igbanke, Isanlu, Ekehen, Uromi, Ubiaja, Aigere, Uzanu and Agenebode)
and in Kogi State (Nashe, Ajaokuta Steel Complex, and Itakpe).
(Aladja, Urjevwu, Orhowhorun, Agbarho, Ovwori, Okpara Inland, Abraka and Urhonigbe),
In Edo State (Idumuesah, Ewossa, Agbor, Ekpon, Igbanke, Isanlu, Ekehen, Uromi, Ubiaja, Aigere, Uzanu and Agenebode)
and in Kogi State (Nashe, Ajaokuta Steel Complex, and Itakpe).
A future extension of
the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri line northwards by about 200km will take it through
Lokoja, Abaji, Gwagwalada, Kuje up to Idu linking up with the existing
Abuja-Kaduna line and the planned Kaduna-Kano line.
With the dredging of
the River Niger from Bifurcation at Forcados up to Warri, it means in not too
distant future, goods coming into Warri Port will find their way to Lokoja,
Abuja, Kaduna and Kano.
Onitsha is just about
70km east of Agbor, the design of the Second Niger Bridge has already been
modified to include a rail line at the centre, this means a 70km rail line will
link Agbor and through the Second Niger Bridge to the Main Market in Onitsha.
