Story details
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Transportation said the Kaduna–Zaria–Kano standard-gauge railway project had reached approximately 90% completion. Permanent Secretary Funso Adebiyi gave the estimate during an inspection reported by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation on October 23. The ministry said the inspection included a train journey from Jaji toward Kano. The 90% figure is an official progress estimate; the report did not provide an independently audited completion measure or a revised opening date.
Adebiyi said the inspected section covered about 145 kilometres of the broader 200-kilometre Kaduna–Kano route, with approximately 10 kilometres of work still outstanding on that stretch. He described track alignment, embankment protection, drainage, stone pitching and soil stabilization as being of good quality and said construction had largely followed specifications. These observations concern the section visited and do not mean that every part of the larger route is finished or ready for passenger service.
The inspection also identified unresolved land acquisition and compensation claims in Kaduna metropolis as a major obstacle to completing the remaining link between Jaji and the Abuja–Kaduna rail corridor. Adebiyi said the government was addressing the issue and that it would receive immediate attention after the inspection team returned to Abuja. The ministry did not quantify the affected land, number of claims, compensation amount or the time needed to settle them.
The ministry’s Director of Rail Transport Services, Habiba Buhari, said the team examined track geometry, alignment, drainage facilities and concrete works in preparation for finalization and test runs. She said the train ride also allowed officials to assess movement and passenger comfort. The report describes inspection and planned testing; it does not say that formal commissioning, safety certification or regular passenger operations had begun.
Adebiyi expressed optimism that uninterrupted train services would eventually connect Abuja through Kaduna and Zaria to Kano. The statement presents that as a government objective, not a confirmed timetable. Separately, he said railway sections from Kano through Kazaure and Daura to Katsina were targeted for completion by December, with work continuing around the clock. The release did not specify a year alongside that December target in the quoted passage or provide a detailed schedule for the wider network.
The update is therefore a reported construction status, with the completion percentage attributed to the ministry’s permanent secretary and outstanding land matters acknowledged by the same official. The overall route length and inspected distance are approximate. No contract value, final cost, ridership forecast, freight target or measured economic impact was disclosed. The source also did not establish when revenue service would start. Further official updates on land settlement, test runs and commissioning would be needed to confirm progress from the reported inspection stage to an operational railway.