Posted by Justtours News
Nigerian Railway Corporation’s (NRC’s) may not be able to surpass the ₦4.8 billion revenue it generated in the first three quarters of 2024 following the suspension of two of its busiest passenger services, the Abuja-Kaduna and Warri-Itakpe routes.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), passenger services accounted for the bulk of the ₦4.8 billion recorded by the NRC in 2024.
However, recent disruptions have left the Corporation operating only the Lagos-Ibadan service.
The Abuja-Kaduna line was halted after a derailment that left several passengers injured, while the Warri-Itakpe service has yet to resume since its second suspension on July 17, 2025, after
suspension in April.
A former President of the Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers, Engr. Victor Oyenuga, said the suspensions would definitely affect NRC’s revenue.
“Yes, the service disruptions will affect operations in terms of revenue, but the priority should be fixing the issues that caused the derailments.
“The trains have transformed commuting between Abuja and Kaduna.
“It is in everyone’s interest that services return stronger,” he said.
NRC Managing Director, Kayode Opeifa, also admitted that the Corporation’s earnings would take a plunge but stressed that the immediate focus was on the recovery of passengers injured in the Abuja-Kaduna accident and the restoration of damaged rolling stock.
“Definitely, our revenue will be impacted, but our concern now is not money lost. It is about ensuring the injured recover quickly and getting the service back on track.
“With incidents like this, there will always be human and financial consequences, but we are grateful no life was lost,” he said.
On concerns that the disruptions could affect repayment of Nigeria’s $2 billion Chinese railway loans, Opeifa clarified that loan servicing is not tied to NRC’s revenue.
“At the NRC, we don’t handle loans or repayment. That is managed by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
“Whatever revenue we generate is transferred into the federation coffers. Railway income is not what pays the Chinese loans,” he explained.
Supporting this position, the President of the Nigerian Union of Railway Workers (NURW), Comrade Innocent Ajiji, said the NRC is primarily a service provider, not a revenue-generating agency.
“The NRC does not even generate enough to cover salaries, let alone service loans. Sixty per cent of what we make goes into the federation coffers, while 40 per cent is used for operations.
“The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Finance, services the loans,” Ajiji stated.
He added that while the Abuja-Kaduna service may remain suspended for a month and Warri-Itakpe for three weeks, both lines are expected to resume operations soon
