Rail Passengers Increase to 2.5 Million in Six Months

Train

John Iwori

No fewer than 2.5 million people travelled by rail in the first half of this year, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has said.

This is a remarkable departure from the past as fewer passengers travelled by rail within the period under review last year.

The figure which indicates an increasing interest in the use of rail as a means of transportation in the first half also

confirmed the crowd at train stations in recent times, especially in Lagos and neighbouring Ogun State.

NRC Assistant Director, Public Relations, Mr. David Ndakotsu, who revealed the figures in Lagos said about 560,000 people out of the 2.5 million were conveyed from Lagos to other parts of the country.

He said that one of the major challenges facing the NRC was the persistent flood that usually slowed down the movement of goods and passengers on inter-state trips.

“Another challenge is passengers’ refusal to abide by the rules, hanging on doors of moving trains as a way of avoiding purchase of train tickets,” he said.

Ndakotsu however, commended the efforts of the federal government in ensuring that there were improvements in the services rendered to the public by the corporation.

According to him, a bill is presently before the National Assembly to amend the Railway Act of 1955, which allowed only government participation in the rail transportation.

He expressed hope that the successful amendment of the Act by the legislature will change the face of rail transportation in the country.

The NRC Assistant Director noted that the amendment of the NRC Act would facilitate the active involvement of the private sector in rendering rail services to the populace.

The amendment of the NRC Act which is presently before the National Assembly is expected to unlock the enormous potentials in Nigeria’s rail transportation.

However, there are fears in some quarters that the amendment of the Act may be jeopardize if the lawmakers did not expedite action its passage by giving it the desired attention.

This is against the backdrop of the increase political activities and imminent electioneering campaign ahead of the 2015 general elections

In a related development, NRC has said its mass transit train service from the Niger State capital, Minna to Kaduna in Kaduna State generates between N500, 000 and N550, 000 per trip.

The NRC Public Relation Officer, North Western District, Mr. Sheriff Razaq, who made this known in Minna said from the beginning of this year, our mass transit train makes between N500, 000 and N550, 000 per trip from Minna to Kaduna.

He said the corporation charged N320 per passenger per trip while each coach carried between 300 and 350 passengers. He said 10 coaches were involved in each trip conveying between 3,000 and 5,000 passengers, depending on the patronage.

Said he: “The most important thing to note is that our passengers increase on daily basis to the extent that they now stand inside the coaches”.

Giving an insight into the history of the route, he said skeletal services on the route began in June 20, 2011 and about N40, 000 was realized during the trip while the second and third trips raked in N84, 000 and N200,000, respectively.

According to him, between January and December, 2012, the corporation was generating between N200,000 to N250,000 per trip on the same route.