our rail service. then and now.

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Lagos railway

In the early years of the Lagos railway, the colonial intentions of Governor MacGrogor and Egerton was to develop a railway line from Lagos to the furthermost parts of Northeastern Nigeria and to open the interiors of Southwestern Nigeria to commerce. In Lagos, railway terminal at Iddo was erected to connect the Lagos Island with the mainland and and act as a transit stop for the trains using the railroad bridge constructed along two major road networks that connects the Island with other parts of Lagos, the Carter bridge and the Denton bridge. Also in 1896 railway construction began from the Iddo area with extensions made along the Lagos route with stops at Otta, Ifo, Arigbajo, Papa Alanto, Abeokuta and Ibadan (1901). However, financial reasons hampered further development of the railway in Southern Nigeria. Proposals linking Benin and Sapele (1906) and Ibadan with Oyo (1907) came to naught.

In 1904, official sanction was given for the commencement of a rail road linking Ibadan with Osogbo and Ilorin and in 1907, it was approved to begin construction from Ilorin to Jebba.

]Baro-Kano line

The Baro Kano line was a railway development project predicated on developing the trade routes along River Niger. The initial intention of the then Northern Nigeria governor was to develop a rail line along the Niger River and the port of Forcados in Southern Nigeria and importantly both routes leading to Kano. In September, 1907 the British government approved a credit of 2 million pounds in furtherance of developing a railroad from Baro (lower point of the Niger) with the town of Kano, a major commercial center in the North. Reasons given included cutting expenses and enhancing communication between areas of interest, the result would reduce the time and cost of transporting troops from one garrison to another and ease the cost associated with transporting goods across the North. Also, the British Cotton Growing Association had an interest in seeing a railroad to the cotton growing areas in Northern Nigeria. The rail road will go from Baro, to Bida, Zungeru, Zaria and finally to Kano and construction started in 1907 with a completion target of four years. The railroad was a narrow-gauge, single track with a speed of twelve miles per hour. The construction utilized a local method of administration whereby the colonial office was bypassed in major decision making with the Northern Nigeria government in charge of organization. It was completed in 1911.

In 1912, a light rail from Zaria reaching Bauchi was built, further extensions were made along the Bauchi Light rail linking the system with the tin producing fields along Jos and Bukuru.

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N..B. The intention is to show that we did have good and forward looking planners. Maybe if we had just continued. Just maybe. The insight on the rail services and its history will continue.