The Nigerian government has taken a significant step towards reducing the environmental impact of its railway system by converting diesel locomotive engines to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

The Minister of Transportation, Sa'idu Alkali, announced this initiative during a visit to the Idu National Railway Station in Abuja on Monday.

Alkali stated that the conversion process has reached an advanced stage, with the first test run scheduled to take place on June 11. The minister emphasized that this is a groundbreaking move, as Nigeria becomes the first country in Africa to undertake such a project.

The converted engines will operate on a 30% diesel and 70% gas ratio. When the driver starts the engine, it will initially use diesel, but once fully engaged, it will automatically switch to gas for the remainder of the journey.

The primary objectives of this initiative are to significantly reduce maintenance costs by 60-70% and control carbon emissions, thereby mitigating local environmental hazards.

The test run will commence on the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor, and if successful, the same technology will be applied to other rail corridors across the country.

Alkali also mentioned that a nitro fitting workshop will be established in Abuja to support the test run process.