Abuja: go to the airport, take the city iron

   During the rainy season, the capital of Abuja, Nigeria, was not covered by past tropical dust. Under the clear sky, the newly built Abuja city iron center station stands out in the sunshine under the World Trade Center building in the center of the city.

                       City railway station - Abuja central station.

    On the afternoon of the 28 day, we followed the Chinese Embassy and friends of the Nigeria Embassy in the central business district of Abuja city iron center station, entering the center of the city railway station hall, security inspection, check tickets on the car.

                               Command and dispatch in the cab.

   A brand-new city railway is on the platform. The locomotive and 3 carriages are made in China. Under the scorching sun, I walked into the quiet, spacious and bright Chengtie carriage, and immediately felt the coolness of the air conditioner, which made people feel energetic.

                                   The mosque outside the window.

    The city railway slowly started to move smoothly towards the outskirts of Abuja airport. The scenery on both sides of the city is full of sight. This is a young city. Outside the window, sometimes it is a green covered hilly area, sometimes it is not very high, and occasionally it can see white cattle.

Di Jianping, deputy secretary of the Party committee of Nigeria company, said that the Abuja municipal authorities intended to build the city iron in the sparse road blocks, in order to drive local development. Since the company started construction of the city railway, the land price has increased several times. It is very difficult for the company to buy a piece of land and carry out diversified operations.

Several local students at the Confucius Institute in southern Nigeria are unable to help singing Chinese songs. They sang one after another, and the mood of joy infected everyone in the carriage.

Dong Anjie, a Nigeria student at the Confucius College in the south of the state, said it was the first time he had taken the city railway in his life. They took part in Taiji performances at the Chinese culture center and happened to catch the opportunity to try the Chengtie railway.

     Before we could feel the sense of Chengtie, we arrived at the terminal Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport station. The total length of the journey is 28 kilometres, and Chengtie arrives within half an hour.

    Through the airport signs at the Chengdu Railway Station, we entered the new Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport terminal to be completed. According to the briefing, this is one of the four terminal buildings in Nigeria built by China National Earth Corporation. From the city rail, only about one hundred meters straight forward, the passengers can reach the two floor of the terminal, and the seamless docking of the city rail and the airport is really realized. Meanwhile, the Chengde railway station, the departure station of the arcah railway, has achieved seamless connection between the railway and the airport. Africa has such an advanced transportation system. Passengers accompanying it can not help but applause.

Yang Qiulin, deputy general manager of the Ministry of operation and business of Nigeria, and the manager of Abuja city iron operation project, said that after more than six years of construction, the first city iron in West Africa, Abuja city iron, was completed in December 2017, with a total length of 45 kilometers. In addition to the airport line we took on that day, there was a route from the Iraqi station to the Abuja satellite city. The city railway has been running for 3 months, and China has trained a large number of technicians for the Nigerian side. Nigeria can open the operation of the city railway at any time.

  

     On the same day, Xiao Xinjun, a Chinese teacher, was driving the city railway. He said he has arrived in Nigeria since 2014 and has brought three Nigeria disciples, one of whom has been able to drive alone.

There are about 4000000 residents in Abuja, and the city with the fastest growing population in Africa has a beautiful business card. Nigeria's April 2018 population survey shows that the population of Africa's largest population has reached 198 million. By 2050, she is expected to become the third most populous country in the world. It is not difficult to understand why Nigeria has to engage in urban railways.