Rail transport in Nigeria

Railways in Nigeria are operated by the Nigerian Railway Corporation. Nigeria's rail system consists of 3,505 km of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge lines and 479 km of standard gauge lines. Efforts are underway to rehabilitate the Cape gauge network and construct a new standard gauge network.

The Nigerian railways were originally built by the colonial power, Great Britain. The railways were built to the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge, the same track gauge used in most other British colonies in Africa.

The country has two major Cape-gauge rail lines. The western line connects Lagos on the Bight of Benin and Nguru in the northern state of Yobe. The eastern line connects Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta and Maiduguri in the northeastern state of Borno. A linking line connects Kaduna on the western line to Kafanchan on the eastern line.

There are no railway links with adjacent countries. Nigeria does not use the same track gauge as its neighbors, where the French and German imperialists built metre gauge railway networks. There were plans to establish rail links to Niger through Illela in Sokoto state and Cameroon, but these have not yet been built.

A standard gauge railway connects the national capital of Abuja to the city of Kaduna, an important junction point on the Cape gauge railway network. This is the first segment of the planned Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway to be completed.

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