On July 12, 2018, the federal capital region of Nigeria held the opening ceremony of the first phase of abuja city railway and the trial ride of the railway. More than 400 people, including Nigerian President muhammadu buhari, minister of the federal capital and the region, minister of foreign affairs nikolai bairo, minister of transport, minister of budget and planning amaki, minister of aviation udoma srika, governor of kaduna state errufani and people from all walks of life, attended the ceremony.

This is west Africa's first light rail, all using Chinese railway technical standards, and according to local conditions, the special use of diesel locomotive traction.

It is known that as the capital of Nigeria, abuja as early as 1981 to undertake a forward-looking transport system planning. In consideration of abuja's urban positioning, development planning and industrial layout, the ministry of transport of Nigeria has adopted the scheme of "trunk railway + urban light rail + urban aviation + urban public transport" proposed by China railway construction corporation (CRCC).

Abuja city rail is divided into two phases, both using Chinese railway technical standards. The first phase of the project, which is now open to traffic, USES a standard gauge double-track railway with a maximum operating speed of 100 km/h and is divided into two lines, Lot1A (17.89km in length) and Lot3 (27.245km in length). According to the agreement, China railway construction (CRCC) will have an operation service cycle of 41 months, including a five-month preparatory period and a 36-month official operation period. We will pass on the technology of railway construction, maintenance and operation to Nigeria and train technical personnel so that Nigeria will gradually realize self-construction and self-development in the field of rail transit.