Nigeria’s government yesterday launched the rehabilitation and construction of the Port Harcourt – Maiduguri narrow gauge railway line in the country’s eastern corridor. The project aims to revamp the dilapidated rail line linking Port Harcourt in the southeast with Maiduguri in the northeast.
China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will carry out the work.
The US$ 3.02 billion project will be executed with 85% loan from a syndicate of Chinese financiers, and 15% counterpart funding from the federal government.
The railway line will have new branch lines: from Port Harcourt to Bonny, from Port Harcourt to Owerri, and from Gombe to Damaturu and Gashua. Another branch line will connect the narrow gauge line to the standard gauge line at Kafanchan.
As part of the project, a $461.9m deep-sea port will be constructed in Bonny as well as a $241.1m railway industrial park in Port Harcourt. Both will be executed through a PPP model.
Once complete, the 1067mm railway will allow trains to run up to 80 km/h for freight and 100 km/h for passengers.
Last month, Mota-Engil Africa started work on a $1.8 billion rail line that will link Nigeria’s Kano town with Maradi in neighbouring Niger.
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