By Rejoice Peterside
The Nigerian Railway Corporation has confirmed that 26 passengers and crew members sustained varying degrees of injuries following a train incident along the Abuja Kaduna rail corridor on Monday morning.
The Managing Director of the NRC, Kayode Opeifa, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday via his X handle, explaining that the incident occurred at about 9:16 a.m. near Asham Station.
According to him, the Kaduna Abuja service identified as KA-2 departed Rigassa Station at about 7:15 a.m. and arrived Jere Station at 8:52 a.m., one minute ahead of its scheduled time.
He explained that the train later departed Jere Station at 8:59 a.m., about six minutes behind schedule, following the coupling of locomotive 2809 to the rake to strengthen the train formation and improve operational resilience.
Opeifa stated that the incident occurred between kilometre points 50 and 51 as the train approached Asham Station when a loud bang was suddenly heard.
“At about 9:16 a.m., a loud bang was heard as the power car and trailing locomotive collided with one of the coaches. Preliminary reports suggest an issue with one or more couplers,” he said.
He noted that none of the coaches derailed during the incident, adding that the exact cause of the possible decoupling is yet to be determined.
Following the incident, two vehicles and the trailing locomotive involved in the disruption, locomotive 2809, power car BVA0002, and passenger coach SP0006, were detached to allow the train continue its journey.
The NRC boss further explained that the train eventually departed the location at about 9:42 a.m., arrived Kubwa Station at 10:10 a.m., and reached its final destination at Idu Station at 10:39 a.m., recording a total delay of 38 minutes.
Providing further details about those on board, Opeifa disclosed that a total of 481 persons were on the train at the time of the incident.
He said the number included 429 passengers who boarded out of the 459 people who booked seats for the trip.
Others on board were 10 train crew members, 26 security personnel, six food vendors, eight cleaners, and two third party operators.
“A total of 26 people with varying degrees of injuries were recorded among the passengers, medical crew, cleaners and security personnel attached to the service,” Opeifa stated.
He added that medical attention was provided to those affected while relevant authorities continued preliminary assessments of the incident.
Despite the disruption, Opeifa assured that rail services were later restored the same day.
He said the Abuja Kaduna train service resumed with the AK1 trip from Idu Station to Rigassa at about 2:48 p.m., against its scheduled departure time of 11:00 a.m.
The train eventually arrived Rigassa Station at 5:33 p.m., with the NRC Managing Director and other officials on board to monitor the recovery operation.
He further revealed that a return service departed Rigassa at about 6:12 p.m., arriving Kubwa Station at 8:31 p.m. before reaching Idu Station at 8:58 p.m.
The Abuja Kaduna rail corridor remains one of Nigeria’s busiest rail routes, transporting hundreds of commuters daily between the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna State.
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