Establishment Of the Nigerian Railway in1912

The Lagos Government Railway and the Baro-Kano Railway were combined by Frederick Lugard in October 1912 to form the Nigerian Railway, which became the official name of the system. The combination made the Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorates much more desirable to combine. With branch extensions, the railway line operated on two main North and South trunks: one from Lagos to Nguru and the other from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation took over coordination of the nation’s railway network in the 1950s, in part due to financial considerations. West Indians were among the diverse workforce of Nigerians working by the rail transport system, who came from a variety of ethnic backgrounds in the nation. The government railway department was divided into four main divisions before the Nigerian Railway Corporation was established: the engineering department, the running department, the traffic and commercial department, and the accounts and stores department. Prior to 1912, when the Lagos Railway was only getting started, Governors MacGrogor and Egerton had colonial goals of building a railroad from Lagos to the furthest reaches of Northeastern Nigeria and opening up trade with the interior of Southwest Nigeria.

The railroad bridge built along two important road networks that connect the Island with other sections of Lagos, the Carter bridge and the Denton bridge, is what allowed the railway terminal at Iddo to be built in Lagos. It also serves as a transit station for trains traveling across the island. Additionally in 1896, work on building a railway started in the Iddo region. It was extended along the Lagos route, stopping at Otta, Ifo, Arigbajo, Papa Alto, Abeokuta, and Ibadan (1901). However, the Southern Nigerian railway’s continued growth was impeded by financial issues. Plans to connect Ibadan with Oyo (1907) and Benin with Sapele (1906) failed.