The importance of high-speed railway (HSR) cannot be over emphasized in enhancing
movement of human, goods and services. This study assessed the critical success factors
(CSFs) of high-speed railway project with a view of determining how critical they are to the
HSR subsector. The population of the study consist of quantity surveyors, civil/highway
engineers and contractors, who are active participants in the rail business. The sample size
was found to be 120 participants. This study adopted simple random sampling and one
hundred and twenty (120) questionnaires were administered to the respondents. Sixty-eight
(68) questionnaires were returned and deemed appropriate for the analysis, yielding a
response rate of 56.7%. Statistical Package for Social Sciences, IBM Version 22 was used to
analyze the data. The results of the analysis showed that exchange rate volatility, inflation
and availability and adequacy of materials are the three most ranked critical success factors
in that order as agreed by all the stakeholders. It was found that there is no statistically
significant difference in the perceptions of the three stakeholders on the CSFs of the high-
speed railway projects except 5 factors out of the 26 CSFs. The 5 CSFs are; exchnge rate
volatility, inflation, correct estimate of the project, effective risk management practice, and
commitment of all parties to the project. The p-values for these 5 CSFs are less than 0.05. It
was concluded that the choice of exchange rate volatility, inflation and availability and
adequacy of materials are very critical to HSR development