Railway construction started in 1893 with the building of the Lagos Railway running north from Lagos to Ibadan. In 1907 work was started by the Northern Nigeria Administration on the Baro-Kano line which was completed in 1911. The Lagos line was then extended northwards to join the Baro-Kano line at Minna, but until the completion of the bridge at Jebba, trains still had to be ferried across the Niger. In 1921 the Lagos Railway and the Baro-Kano Railway were both absorbed into the Nigerian Railway.