Abuja-Kaduna line breaks even
Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, has said the Abuja-Kaduna rail service generated the sum of N1.5 billion naira out of the N3.09 billion generated by the service in 2019 making it the most lucrative route in the country. According to tbiafrica.com, Fidet Okhiria, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja and signed by the Media Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni.
Okhiria said the Abuja-Kaduna rail line generated about N130m monthly in 2019, as against the N80m generated in the previous year. He said the rail line had been able to break even, adding that the money generated from the Abuja-Kaduna rail service was used to service other stations in the North. He named one of the stations as the Maiduguri station, which currently is not functional due to insecurity in Borno State. Okhiria was quoted as saying, “The Abuja-Kaduna railway generated over N130m monthly as revenue.
“N90m was spent on running cost and payment of staff at the Maiduguri station, which could not operate for now due to insecurity in the state.” The NRC boss added, “As at 2019, train operations nationwide generated about N3.09bn and we are targeting about N6bn when Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warricome on board.”
He, however, noted that with the reduction of passengers from 80 to 40 per coach in a bid to stop COVID-19 spread, the projected revenue for 2020 would be affected.
