Check Out The New, Ultra Modern Train That Will Be Used For Abuja Light Rail - Exclusive Photos

The ministry of transportation is a very important ministry that every government either state or federal hold dearly to its heart. Once the road and other forms of transportation are solved, be sure that problems of mobility have come to an end. Some few days, the minister of transportation was at CRRC head office in China where he went to inspect the trains that will be used for the Lagos-Ibadan rail and the Abuja Light railway. AutoReportNG has it on a good note that trains meant for the Abuja metropolis are already on their way to Nigeria.

We got an exclusive overview of how these trains look like. The trains will be adorned in three colours, one is the green and white, the other is blue and white and the last colour will be orange and white (that is if the colours remain unchanged)
will ply the Abuja metropolis and shuttle Abuja.

During the inspection, the minister was made to see different types of trains, models and how they work. The Abuja type of train is called DMU... A DMU train according to Wikipedia, A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages.

Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also generally classed as DMUs. Diesel-powered units may be further classified by their transmission type: diesel-electric (DEMU), diesel-mechanical (DMMU) or diesel-hydraulic (DHMU).

A train composed of DMU cars scales well, as it allows extra passenger capacity to be added at the same time as motive power. It also permits passenger capacity to be matched to demand, and for trains to be split and joined en route. It is not necessary to match the power available to the size and weight of the train, as each unit is capable of moving itself. As units are added, the power available to move the train increases by the necessary amount. DMUs may have better acceleration capabilities, with more power-driven axles, making them more suitable for routes with frequent closely spaced stops, as compared with conventional locomotive and unpowered carriage setups.

Remember, the minister of transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi has given the contractor Nov 30th deadline for a test run to start from Ebute-Metta in Lagos to Ibadan.

AutoReportNG got some exclusive images of these trains and the company's video graphical presentation when they are going for a test run and trial at CRRC Dalian's Factory.

The trains are expected to arrive in Nigeria before December 2019. See the photos below...

Graphical Presentation

See the video below...

Abuja-Kaduna Rail: We Run A Deficit of 20million Naira Monthly - NRC MD

Fidet Okhiria, the managing director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), says the Abuja-Kaduna rail line recorded an N20 million deficit monthly in 2018.

This is despite the 400% increase in revenue recorded by the rail service.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, Okhria said the NRC spends over N100 million monthly as running cost.

The director attributed the high expenses to the purchase of diesel to power the generators at the train station.

“We are close to breaking even on the Abuja-Kaduna train and we have made progress because of the efforts we made. When we started, we were earning about N16m and spending about N56m,” he said.

“But right now, we can comfortably say we earn over N80m, although we still spend over N100m, which is closer to breaking even. By the time we have more coaches and run more trains, I think the expenses will reduce and more patronage will come in.

“The issue we have now is that we only run passenger trains. We don’t have freight to move from Kaduna to Abuja.

“Right now, all our stations are still powered by generator 24/7 and we buy about 99,000 litres (of diesel) every month to power those generators. So it eats deep into our revenue. But by the time we are able to connect to the public power supply, which we hope by this month will be done, the cost of buying diesel will drastically reduce and then we can break even.”

The director said more coaches will be deployed on the route as the number of train trips has increased from four to eight.


- The Cable