The very first train ride from Lagos to Ibadan was taken in the early 1900s by the British government ruling in today’s southern Nigeria at the time.
By 1964, the rail lines had transported 11,288,000 passengers and 2,960,000 tonnes of freight in a year, employing about 45,000 people, according to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
By 2003, these rail lines had fallen to its worst state since independence, leaving thousands jobless, and making roads suffer. The Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari administrations have since begun the resuscitation process for the rail lines, with an actual (free) commercial travel happening for the first time on the Lagos-Ibadan route in nearly 20 years.
TheCable took a trip on the new Lagos-Ibadan trains and shares some sights from the trip. Enjoy.
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You may read the full reporter’s diary about the trip here.
All pictures by Mayowa Tijani for TheCable
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