The cost and pains of riding on Nigeria’s first modern rail service Photo story

By Femi Ipaye

On the 27, July 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari, flagged off the Abuja- Kaduna train service to the excitement of Nigerians. The train service runs on $1.46bn, 186.5km standard gauge double rail track from Abuja to Kaduna  built with loans from China.  Trains running of the track are expected travel as fast as 150km/hour. But as much as Nigerians on the Abuja end  may desire experiencing the hard to come by experience of train ride in Nigeria, the pains as well as the cost of doing so may be a huge put-off.

To get to to the train station located at Idu area from the popular Wuse market, for instance, will cost a prospective passenger nothing less than N300.00.

Such a passenger will first have to take a taxi to Karmo market, through the very terrible road link to the area at the cost N150 per  To get to the train station from Karmo market,  the commuter will have to patronize commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada at the cost of N150. The journey from Wuse to the Idu train station will take approximately 35-40 minutes, routing through Idu Industrial area.

The second means of accessing the train station is through the Jabi junction on the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Road, Abuja. But only those going to the train station with their personal car or can afford to charter a vehicle will find this a viable option as there are no reliable commercial transport link from the area to the train station.  Even then, they will still have to pass through the very terrible Idu Industrial Estate road. For now, a journey on the train from Abuja to Kaduna takes 2 hours 30 minutes.

A manager at the station explained that this was so because the coaches designed to run on trail track which can make the trip in about one and half hour  are still being expected.  For now, it cost more to ride the train than going by road!

The Abuja-Kaduna train service runs on the first standard gauge railway in West Africa

To use the rail service, prospective passengers on the Abuja end will have to find their way to the Idu State where they will get a ticket at the either the cost of N600 for regular seat or N900 to sit in the VIP section of the coaches

Once inside the Idu Station, prospective passengers can look at this electronic board for information on time of arrivals and departures of the train service. For now, there are two train services from Abuja to Kaduna twice daily. The first train leaves the Idu Station by 7 am while the second leaves by 2.20 pm. To catch any of the train, a prospective passenger must be at the station 15 minutes before the departure time

This barely passable road leads to Idu Train station from Idu Industrial Estate Phase 1

This is the very terrible Idu Karimo market road leading to the train station.