Nigeria's Abuja-Kaduna railway is the first rail line in Africa that is constructed and supported by China with modern standard gauge.

A train is approaching the station on the Abuja-Kaduna railway. [Photo provided to China Plus]

The railway recently marked more than 1000 days of smooth operation and has transported over 1.5 million passengers, making a good example of the China-Nigeria cooperation in infrastructure.

The Abuja-Kaduna railway is the first line of the railway modernization project in Nigeria.

It was financed by the Chinese government with concessional loans, and constructed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, which also provides technical services in operation.

Opened in July, 2016, the 186 kilometer rail line realized the train connection between the Nigerian capital Abuja with Kaduna, an important industrial city on the north of the country.

Last week, the Nigerian transport ministry awarded China Civil Engineering Nigeria a special medal for operating Abuja-Kaduna railway safely in the past 1000 days.

China Civil Engineering Nigeria manager Jiang Yigao (Right) receives the medal awarded by Nigeria Railway Corporation for safely running the Abuja-Kaduna railway since July, 2016. [Photo provided to China Plus]

Adeola Adeokun is the general manager of Nigeria Railway Corperation.

"Today we are marking the 1000th day. We have not had any serious accidents. That does not mean we have not had incidents. We have had incidents of maybe cows or somebody lyng down on the tracks. We have not really had derailments, and because we carry a lot of people we pray that would never happen in our lifetime. So thank you for your good work in making the Abuja rails," Adeokun said on the awarding event.

Faced with relatively weak railway services in Nigeria, China Civil Engineering decided to do more than just building the railway when they started the project.

The Chinese company provided the Nigeria Railway Corperation with the technical support and organized training sessions to help operate the rail system effectively.

Technical staff works in the control room for the Abuja-Kaduna railway. [Photo provided to China Plus]

Manager Jiang Yigao said the Abuja-Kaduna railway has won wide compliments from Nigerian people.

"It is a significant achievement under the Belt and Road initiative between China and Nigeria. In the near future, more and more modern railways will be built. More and more Nigerians will enjoy the safe, comfortable and convenient service by the railway," Jiang said.

Since its opening, the Abuja-Kaduna railway has greatly alleviated the traffic congestion between the capital district and the states of Niger and Kaduna.

It has become the most preferred mode of transport by people traveling between these places.

The train tickets are often sold out. Sometimes even the train aisle is crowded with passengers.

Passengers queue to buy train tickets for the Abuja-Kaduna rail line. [Photo provided to China Plus]

Yusuf Mohammed is a local businessman. For more than two years, he has traveled between Abuja and Kaduna by train.

"The country would change the way we transport ourselves and goods. We need this. We need coaches. We need more locomotives. We need more rail tracks. We need to have more frequency. We need to have discrimination to every state capita. We do need that and I hope the Chinese company will support," Mohammed said.

Now, China Civil Engineering is laying tracks for the second line of the Nigeria railway modernization project, the Lagos-Ibadan railway.

When finished, it's expected to bring great convenience to the transportation system in southwest Nigeria.