Abstract: | With a better intermodal resource allocation preconditioned on an efficient rail management, rail transportation should have comparative advantage over road in long-distance haulage. This comparative advantage has largely eluded the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the public utility in charge of railways in Nigeria. The resulting intermodal disequilibrium has led to the very high social cost of transport in the economy. The author examines developments in the Nigerian rail sector with a focus on those major policy issues pertinent to an efficient rail transportation system. A look at the financial performance of the NRC raises a number of problems for the future development of the Nigerian railway system relating, amongst others, to management and decisionmaking, pricing policy, intermodal competition, and manpower policy. Bibliogr., notes, ref. |