How will the Nigerian Railway be privatized and what are the steps involved?
The Nigerian Railway will be privatized using the vertically integrated concession model. Under this model, the concessionaire will provide both passenger and freight services, and be responsible for infrastructure upgrade, expansion as well as maintenance. To promote competition, the Nigerian Railway has been divided into three autonomous railways: Western Railway; Eastern Railway; and Central Railway. The BPE NRC concession strategy involves: • Ring fencing and concessioning only the rail operational assets. • Granting 25-30 year concessions on the following routes: • Western Railway: the route covers Lagos to Kaura Namoda and Nguru via Kaduna, including all the branch lines along that route. • Eastern Railway: the route covers Port Harcourt to Maiduguri via Kafanchan including the Kaduna to Kafanchan link and all branch lines along that route. • Central Railway: The new route (Ongoing construction) from Itakpe to Warri via Ajaokuta.
