Abuja-Kaduna rail line revenue drops from N500m to N1 million

The revenue generated by the Abuja-Kaduna rail line has significantly dropped by 99.8 per cent, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, has disclosed.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the decline followed an attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train by bandits who bombed the rail line between Katari and Rijana on March 28, 2022.

The attack led to the death of about eight passengers, while the attackers kidnapped some passengers. The victims were released after an undisclosed amount was reportedly paid for their freedom.

Following the attack, Okhiria said revenue dropped after the rail line resumed operation. He made this known on Wednesday, disclosing the challenges faced by the Abuja-Kaduna service.

Okhiria said before the attack, the Abuja-Kaduna rail line was generating about N500 million monthly, however, after the deaths and kidnap of the passengers, turnover plummeted to N1 million.

“Before the attack, we were earning N500 million a month and after the attack, we were earning barely one million and we must operate and provide service to the people, which is why we are glad about the minister’s surprise visit to highlight some of these operational issues.

“Currently, we do two return trips against the 10 we were doing before that incident and we were running from 6 am to 10 pm but now we have been advised not to exceed to 6 pm. So, we are hopeful that when the security situation normalises and they are able to advise us, we can start the full operation so that we can break even.

“We have paid two months out of the 5 months outstanding and we hope to conclude it soon. They know that before now, we don’t delay and we pay before the end of every month when everything is going on well,” he said.

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