The Federal Government is poised to achieve over 60 percent savings in diesel costs following the successful retrofitting of train locomotives to a dual-fuel system.
Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali, expressed his satisfaction with the test run in a statement released by the ministry on Friday.
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Alkali said, “This feat is a step towards reducing the cost of transportation and making the cost of train rides affordable to the general public.”
At the Amina J. Mohammed Train Station (Idu Train Station) in Abuja, the Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali, led a demonstration showcasing the capabilities of the newly retrofitted locomotives along the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor.
These locomotives, now powered by a 70 percent Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and 30 percent diesel mix, were test-run by the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
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This marks a major step toward reducing operational costs and promoting cleaner energy in Nigeria’s rail transport system.
Alkali explained that before the modification, the locomotives ran entirely on diesel. The upgrade now allows them to run primarily on LNG, with diesel making up only 30 percent of the fuel used.
Despite this success, Alkali acknowledged that a full 100 percent conversion to LNG is not technically feasible due to the heavy-duty design of the locomotive’s engine, which was originally built to run on diesel.
“It is not possible technically to convert it to CNG or LNG 100 per cent,” Alkali stated.
Samuel Uko, Managing Director of De-Sadel Consortium, hailed the achievement, noting that this is the first locomotive in Africa to operate using LNG.
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