NIGERIAN RAILWAY CORPORATION

Brief History

The Nigerian Railway System pioneered the rapid opening up of the geographical area called Nigeria. The Railway System, therefore represents the oldest modern form of transportation in Nigeria.

Railway development in Nigeria was initiated by private interest. This was later taken over by the then Colonial Government as Government Railway for the purpose of easy and cheap movement of bulk goods from the hinterlands to the seaports and vice versa.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation is over 112 years old and it runs a unilaterally designed track system of 1067mm cape gauge. Nigerian Railway System actually commenced rail business activities with the construction of the first rail line from Lagos to Ibadan (193km) between 1898 and 1901. By 1964 when the construction of 640km kano – Maiduguri rail line, then known as Bornu extension, was completed, the present core of the railway network had been put in place.

PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE WARRI–ITAKPE TRAIN SERVICE (WITS) INCIDENT THAT OCCURRED AT KILOMETRE 177, OWA OYIBU, NEAR GOODLUCK JONATHAN RAILWAY STATION, DELTA STATE

REF: NO.MDP.36/VOL.37/151 24th August, 2026. PREAMBLE The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) wishes to update the public, industry stakeholders, employees, and families of all passengers involved in the Warri–Itakpe Train Service (WITS) incident that occurred on 8 June 2026 at approximately 16:17 hours, while approaching the Outer […]

NRC Graduates 31 New Locomotive Pilots, Says Pilots Are at the Heart of Railway Reforms

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr. Kayode Opeifa, has described locomotive pilots as the driving force behind the ongoing transformation and reforms in Nigeria’s railway sector. Dr. Opeifa made this known at the graduation ceremony of 31 newly trained locomotive pilots who […]