Railway Transport Potential as a Catalyst for Industrial and Regional Economic Development along the Abuja-Kaduna Corridor, Nigeria

This study examines the development potential of the Abuja-Kaduna railway corridor and the extent to which railway accessibility can support industrial infrastructure and regional economic development. A cross-sectional field survey was conducted in settlements connected to the rail axis in Kaduna State. A multi-stage sampling procedure produced 398 questionnaire allocations from a projected corridor population of 83,181, while 256 valid questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 64.32%. Structured questionnaires were complemented by field observation, interviews and focus-group discussions. Responses were measured on a four-point Likert scale and analysed with frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. The results show broad agreement that the rail axis has considerable development potential. The strongest rating concerned access to larger volumes of goods and services as a basis for industrial-corridor development (mean = 3.49). Respondents also associated the corridor with better access to social facilities, agricultural and mineral resources, wider markets and stronger settlement linkages. In the industrial and economic assessment, the highest mean concerned the expectation that growth along the railway corridor would encourage housing development (mean = 3.47), followed by long-term economic growth (mean = 3.25), the relationship between corridor investment and regional development (mean = 3.18), and the role of corridor investment as a catalyst for national economic development (mean = 3.12). Direct industrialisation also received a positive mean of 2.93. The findings suggest that railway infrastructure can support regional development where transport accessibility is combined with feeder access, logistics facilities, utilities, land-use planning, local-resource processing and effective institutions. The study recommends a coordinated corridor-development programme that links rail transport with agro-processing, warehousing, housing, public services and industrial nodes rather than treating railway investment as a stand-alone transport project.