FG says Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line to resume next week

According to the Nigerian government, the bombed Abuja-Kaduna rail line will reopen next week.

Mua’zu Sambo, the Minister of Transportation, made the announcement on Sunday following a route inspection.

Remember that operations at the route were abruptly halted following a terrorist attack on March 28th of this year.

Transport Minister Sambo noted that the Abuja-Kaduna route will resume not more than a week from November 27, during an inspection test run citing that The issue facing the FG implied they have not said the train services will start tomorrow.

• ”I want to be very categorical about that. Now, we have introduced a new system before you buy a ticket. Your purchase of a ticket requires you to provide a phone number and a national identification number to profile because that is the beginning of the security checks.
• ”So, at any point in time when a train moves from one station to another, we know who and who is on board. If you don’t have an NIN you are not going to board our train. It is as simple as that.
• ”If you are a minor, an adult will pay for you and will register for you and an adult can only register for not more than four minors.”

He noted that the Federal Government wanted to give sufficient time for the Nigerian public to listen to these and assimilate this new system to avoid people getting disgruntled.

He added that FG is 90% ready with its preparations, citing the remaining 10% would be achieved in the next couple of days for the full resumption of train services.

On security measures, the Minister explained the steps the Federal Government has taken, saying:

• ”Certain concrete measures that are feasible include ticketing. Security starts with ticketing. So, now you don’t buy a ticket unless you have a valid phone number and you have a NIN.”

The Kaduna train kidnapping happened on March 28, just towards the end of the first quarter of the year. As the data reflects, many Nigerians subsequently opted for other means of transportation in the second quarter as opposed to trains, due to rising insecurity in rail transportation.

• Nigerians used railway transportation less in the second quarter of 2022 than they did in the first quarter of 2021, as the number of train passengers in Q2 2022 was 422,393, while the number of passengers in Q1 2022 was 953,099.
• The number of cargo for Q2 2022 was zero, compared to Q1 2022 when the total cargo transported through the railway system was 32,139 tons.
• The revenue generated from passengers from Q2 2022 was N598,736,300, while for Q1 2022, revenue generated was N2,077, 836,686.
• According to NBS, revenue generated from goods in Q2 2022 was N86,007,680, while revenue generated from goods in Q1/2022 was N71,769,967.
• The data from the NBS further showed that other income receipts for Q2/2022 were N49,728,630, whereas, in Q1/2022, other income receipts were N57,922,411.