Nigeria: The fleet of 12 four-car trains started operation on the double track ARMT line.
The 45 km route with 12 stations links the country’s capital Abuja with its airport and satellite cities. Each aluminium-bodied DMU can accommodate 700 people and reach speeds of 100 km/h. The train is adapted to high temperatures and sandstorms.
The ARMT line has been under construction, involving the Chinese civil engineering giant CCECC, since 2007 through loans from the Export-Import Bank of China. The first section opened in 2018, with CRRC’s three-coach electric trains running the line. With the catenary unready, the trains were pulled by diesel locomotives. In 2020, the construction was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was resumed only in May 2024 after the project had been revised and the infrastructure refurbished.
CRRC actively supplies Nigeria with diesel locomotives, passenger coaches, and metro trains. The company has also built a plant to assemble freight cars in the country.
