Nigeria's railway revenue to fall 71% in Q2 2022

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Rail transport data from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigerians used rail transport less in the second quarter of 2022 than they did in the first quarter of 2021.

The data showed that the number of train passengers in Q2 2022 was 422,393, while the number of passengers in Q1 2022 was 953,099.

The data also showed that the number of cargoes for Q2 2022 was zero, compared to Q1 2022 when the total cargo transported through the rail system was 32,139 tonnes.

The income was affected: The revenue generated from passengers as of Q2 2022 was N598,736,300, while for Q1 2022 the revenue was N2,077,836,686.

According to the 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 NBS further showed that other income income for Q2/2022 was N49,728,630, while other income income in Q1/2022 was N57,922,411.

The reason for the decline: A staff of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who requested anonymity, told Nairametrics that voter turnout was drastically reduced after the Kaduna train attack that claimed eight lives. The staff told Nairametrics that many Nigerians have expressed sadness over the takeover of railway lines by terrorists. The sum of $500 million spent on building the Abuja-Kaduna rail system was borrowed from China.

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Remember that it was in the first quarter of 2022 that Kaduna train kidnapping happened. The incident took place on 28 March, just towards the end of the first quarter of the year. As the data reflects, many Nigerians subsequently opted for other modes of transport in the second quarter as opposed to trains, due to increasing insecurity in rail transport.
Although the last set of kidnapped victims of the train attack were released on October 5 after months in captivity, the issue of insecurity continues to plague the rail transport industry. President Buhari recently shouted at all relevant agencies to tackle the challenge head on.
In August 2022, Nigeria’s Minister of Transport, Mu’azu Sambo said the government was looking for public private partnership options to protect rail lines from Abuja to Kaduna and other parts of the northern region. The minister had said that installing safety equipment on the tracks could cost up to $21 million.
In the same August 2022, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the sum of N718 million to provide security for the 45 kilometer long railway track and 20 stations across the country.