Abuja-Kaduna Train Conveys 1.5m Passengers In 1,000 Days

After 1,000 days in operation, the Nigerian Railways Corporation (NRC) has conveyed in excess of 1.5 million passengers to and from Kaduna on the Abuja-Kaduna railway service, statistics from the NRC show.

President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off the train service on July 26, 2016, and the train, which is the first commercial standard gauge train, was built by China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) from about 75 per cent funding from China and 25 per cent from Nigeria.

Speaking at the event to mark the milestone, the NRC MD, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, said “to operate for 1,000 days without major accidents like derailment, major failures, staff didn’t down tools and we didn’t stop operation for any day; it’s a huge success.’’

According to him, people may complain that the NRC is not providing enough service, but that upgrading takes time, even as he assured that this year they would increase the number of trains they ran.

“By the end of the year, we should target every hourly train to and from Kaduna. We have ordered more coaches and they will even be more beautiful and more relaxing than the ones we have,” he said.

“For the e-ticketing, it’s in an advanced stage now, but we have to follow due process. We have advertised and over 1,000 companies bidded. Right now, three companies are defending their proposals at the ICPC.