Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, Engr. Fidet Okhiria has revealed that the monthly revenue realised from train service operations on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line has significantly dropped from N500 million to N1 million monthly.

It would be recalled that bandits detonated a bomb on the rail track of Abuja-Kaduna train and successfully immobilised the train between Katari and Rijana.

Subsequently, the attackers kidnapped several passengers who were later released after an unspecified amount of ransom was paid.

However, speaking at an inspection of the Idu train station yesterday in Abuja, Okhiria said the essence of the tour was to correct some issues highlighted by the Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali, which include escalators, elevators and allowances of security men.

“Before the attack, we were earning N500 million a month and after the attack, we were earning barely one million and we must operate and provide service to the people, which is why we are glad about the minister’s surprise visit to highlight some of these operational issues.

“Currently, we do two return trips against the 10 we were doing before that incident and we were running from 6 am to 10 pm but now we have been advised not to exceed to 6 pm. So, we are hopeful that when the security situation normalises and they are able to advise us,  we can start the full operation so that we can break even.

“We have paid two months out of the 5 months outstanding and we hope to conclude it soon. They know that before now, we didn’t delay and we pay before the end of every month when everything was going on well”.

Daily Trust