By Zhang Lipeng in Beijing | CRRC | Updated: 09/01/2018
At 10 a.m. (local time) of January 4, Nigerian President Buhari, at Kaduna City, cut the ribbon for the 2 new locomotives and 7 coaches for the railway connecting the capital Abuja and the northern city Kaduna, and celebrated for more-than-500-day safe operation of Abuja-Kaduna railway.
All the newly-purchase locomotives and coaches are made by CRRC. After their launch into operation, the service speed will be uplifted from the previous 90 to 150km/h.
With a total length of 186.5km, the Abuja-Kaduna railway, since officially launched on July 26, 2016, has carried 500,000 person-times of passengers with an on-schedule rate of 99%, thus offering the masses along the line with convenience and comfort.
These two locomotives are CDD3B1 with the gauge of 1,435mm and a maximum operation speed of 150km/h, and are still available under the extreme weather and environment in Africa, such as the storm and extreme humidity in the rainy season and the drought, dust and high temperature in the dry season. In the future, CRRC will further provide this novel locomotive in accordance with the service demand of Abuja-Kaduna railway.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, President Buhari said in his keynote speech that since its official launch in 2016, the Abuja-Kaduna railway has become the most prioritized transport mode among local communities; so he hoped that all the major cities in Nigeria could be connected by rail in the future 25 years. The President further commented that the partnership with Chinese-funded enterprises was indispensable to the railway construction in the nation, and that it was expected to strengthen railway cooperation and technology sharing with China.
Nigerian Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi said that it was of utmost necessity to purchase two new locomotives and the passenger coaches with air conditioners from China, because the present domestic trains were unable to satisfy the demand in peak time. He also praised the premium quality of Chinese locomotive equipment and expressed his willingness of continuous collaboration.
After the launch ceremony, President Buhari and his team boarded the new train, departed from station of Rigasa and experienced a short trip.
