Background

The history of railway in Nigeria goes back to at least a century ago. The colonialists had constructed narrow gauge lines linking the hinterlands to the ports. These railways were used convey agricultural produce, mineral resources, passengers amongst others. Post-independence, the railway remained a major transportation medium across the country. The usage of the trains significantly waned towards the 80s and 90s occasioned by neglect by successive governments.
Only in the last decade of the 2010s that serious efforts were put in to build a modern railway system on a standard gauge platform. The FG in conjunction with the Chinese construction giant CCECC initiated and completed the Kaduna-Abuja railway. It was commissioned in 2016.

The Warri Itakpe Railway
The contract for the construction of the the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri railway was awarded in 1987 by the administration of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. The rail line runs for about 270km which crosses three states namely Kogi, Edo and Delta states. Remember that behemoth, the Ajaokuta Steel Complex? Its major raw material which is iron ore got to be transported from Itakpe where the ore is beneficiated. Thus, the Itakpe-Ajaokuta line. Another steel complex sits at Aladja in Delta State. It also needs Itakpe's iron ore. There lies the conceptual pillars of the railway.

We all know what happened thereafter. The Ajaokuta project is yet to be completed, Delta Steel is moribund. Mek we waste the lines already laid? Hell No.

The FG revived the project in 2009 and completed the laying of tracks. It was repurposed to offer passenger services alongside the intended cargo operations . About a dozen stations were sited along the line. It cost more than $200 million dollars to complete. That's aside the initial costs injected from 1987 o. Let me not forget to mention that it is a standard gauge line unlike the obsolete railways across the country.

This is just a brief about the Warri-Itakpe railway system. I thought it necessary because most Nigerians know nothing about it, while it's the longest modern railway in the country. Follow me as I ride aboard the train. Forgive the camera quality and handling, please. The Nigerian Railway Corporation(NRC) staff fumed at my snapping pictures around. But I felt I need to share the experience with fellow NLers

Nice one .... ride on


We need pics and price of tickets, fide you booked online or you brought from staff

For preparations, you need to book a ticket. You can do that online via nrc.fane.ng which is specific to the Warri-Itakpe Train Service (WITS). You can also book manually at the various stations(not advisable because you might end up getting standing tickets).
There are two classes of tickets - standard and business. Standard costs 5k while the business class costs 9k. In the standard coach, there are 88 seats while in the business class 56. Currently, there's only one business class coach. About 5 others are standard. Via the online platform, you can choose the seat you want (based on availability sha). As a lover of adventure who wants to see the countryside, I chose a window seat right of the aisle.
Note that ticketing opens 24 hours before the day of travel. That means you can only book for a 7th April train, starting 12am on 6th April. This info comes handy during festive periods.
NRC sends the ticket to your registered mail. It contains a bar code which will be scanned at the station

---

On the day of travel, I picked my luggage and headed to the Ujevwu train station. Ujevwu is located in the outskirts of Warri, a distance of about 10km. Coming from DSC and Effurun roundabouts, you can use korope bus to Mofor Junction then take keke from there direct to the train station.

This is the station junction with which teed off the Ovwian-Transcorp road.

I arrived at the Ujevwu train station by 7.30am. The train runs a trip daily from Ujevwu to Itakpe and return same day.
Passengers have queued up behind the ticket booth struggling to book manually. Most of them will end up getting standing ticket. It seems they don't know about the online ticketing.

Porters are available to help you handle your heavy loads. Roving POS operators abound. I collected 10k for 400 Naira. Things cost for here o.

The coming of the train station to this community is telling positively on the surroundings. Many structures are coming up. I saw a fine hotel under construction.

I opened my phone to display my ticket QR code. The staff stationed at the entrance scanned it and affirmed that it's genuine, the granted me entry.

There are seats at the waiting area. But passengers prefer to briskly move to their various coaches to sit

I am now ready to board the train. You can see the train with NRC's thematic colours. It's same with the other trains on the Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibada railways.

This going to be fun. Enemies of Nigeria, stay away

Aah. I know someone might be wondering "wetin dey carry this people go Itakpe"?
My brother and sister, more than 80% of the train passengers are heading to Abuja. It's an easier and cheaper medium to connect to FCT compared to limbs-tiring road trip. The road from Warri to Okene is a shambles. Some sections of the road around Ekpoma have turned into gullies. It's the road Umahi complained that he spent 14hrs navigating from FCT despite the security escort.

Cost-wise, a "comfortable" bus or Sienna journey from Warri to Abuja costs at least 30k. Via the train, you might spend only half of that amount depending on your choices.

Let's compare duration. First of all, the road journey is completely unpredictable. Today you can spend 12 hours, tomorrow traffic go jam you for Ekpoma and you spend 20 hours. Whatever, even a Luis Hamilton can not finish Warri to Abuja,in its current state, in less than 10 hours

I entered into our business class coach. Many passengers were already on seat. As the AC was yet to be switched on, I dropped my luggage and went down to the railside to catch fresh air. You'll notice that some of the windows on the coach are open to allow fresh air to enter. This terrible practice of keeping passengers in hot compartments is also rampantly in the commercial aviation sector. The airlines will only put the AC on few minutes before take off. I hope the regulators do something about it.

As 8am ticked, the train started moving. Few meters away, there's a level crossing where a road intersects the railway. That's the picture here. Several flyovers have been constructed along the railway to avoid such occurrences. Thus, vehicular and human traffic are not affected in anyway by the movement of the train.

As mentioned earlier, there are 12 stations (inclusive of the start and terminus). Our next stop is Agbarho, which is less than a kilometer from the East West road.

By 8.15am, the train screeched to a halt at the Agbarho station to pick passengers. The station appears makeshift and ramshackle. I heard from the grapevine that the community resisted that they must be settled ("deve" before the station is constructed. See the result now. Poto-poto everywhere. Abeg, make we dey think well. How on earth will you ask government to pay for something your community will benefit?

As moved out of Agbarho, the AC went off. We thought it was a minor fault. To our utter dismay, the NRC told us that we'll have endure the AClessness until we reach Agbor which is more than an hour away. The trip became somewhat discomforting especially when the train was slowing down.

Are train rides in Nigeria not bumpy and noisy?



.... I only have experience with the metros in Western countries, smooth, noiseless, spacious and Swift. AC is not a discussion.... Then the view of the city as the train goes underground and then above the city again is a RIDE YOU WISH NEVER COMES TO AN END!

Energist:
By 8.15am, the train screeched to a halt at the Agbarho station to pick passengers. The station appears makeshift and ramshackle. I heard from the grapevine that the community resisted that they must be settled ("deve" before the station is constructed. See the result now. Poto-poto everywhere. Abeg, make we dey think well. How on earth will you ask government to pay for something your community will benefit?

And Fed govt also refuse to build a standard station there.

Community wey FG supoose finish with bombardment 😂 just kidding

Arrest all the youth there and make them sign paper that if anything happen to the infrastructure, they will be Eliminated

Tonididdyx:
Are train rides in Nigeria not bumpy and noisy?



.... I only have experience with the metros in Western countries, smooth, noiseless, spacious and Swift. AC is not a discussion.... Then the view of the city as the train goes underground and then above the city again is a RIDE YOU WISH NEVER COMES TO AN END!

The ride is not bumpy at all. As for the noise, I can't really compare because I haven't rode OK any train outside Nigeria.

Interesting thread. Hope to explore this soon

8.30 am we were at Okpara station. Still in Delta State

Meanwhile, I brought out my tablet, unlatched the seta table and placed it atop. I got some online courses to cover up. Note that the economy coach doesn't have such tables. That and legroom are the major differences.

There's a socket for charging your devices, two per row, each on the sides.

We arrived at Abraka Station, situated few kilometres behind the town. Few passengers alighted and others came onboard.

We were eager to arrive at Agbor to get our AC back to life. Thankfully, we arrived few minutes after 10.30am. Agbor station is the largest along the railway. It's a hub which I think will serve future purposes. It contains several railway facilities which the station, warehouses, workshop, staff quarters /offices etc. Mind you that Agbor is not far from Onitsha. I believe there's a plan to connect the south east to Agbor.