Railway moved three million passengers in 2011 ' MD

Train services have steadily increased in the last one year with the Nigerian Railway Corporation announcing the movement of 3,140,722 passengers since the beginning of the year.The Managing Director of the corporation, Mr. Adeseyi Sijuade, who gave the figure in Lagos on Wednesday, said it was about 107 per cent better than the 1,514,215 passengers recorded in 2010.He also said 283,592 tonnes of goods were carried this year, which was an increase of 103 per cent over the 139,377 tonnes moved by train last year.He attributed the increase in train passengers and freight to the recent delivery and deployment of 25 new locomotives by General Electric of the United States.Similarly, he noted that the completion of the rehabilitation of some rail lines and the introduction of mass transit trains had boosted the operation and revenue of the corporation.This, he said, made the NRC management to set a monthly revenue target of N100m in October, adding that it was already making about N70m monthly.Sijuade said, With the official handing over of Lagos-Ilorin track to the corporation after the traditional inspection of the line by the government inspector of railway to certify the complete rehabilitation of this section, long distance passenger train service has resumed covering Iddo-Ilorin every Friday; the train returns to Lagos on Sunday.Other passenger train services now running are Kano-Kaduna, Kafancha-Kaduna, Kaduna intra-city, and Lagos-Iddo and Apapa-Agbado/Ijoko.The activities of the Boko Haram sect may have halted train services in Maiduguri, as the NRC boss declared that passenger train service in the city had been suspended for security reasons.Sijuade also said the corporation had attained about 80 per cent of its workshop and training school rehabilitation.About 40 wagons and two old locomotives were rehabilitated and returned to operation as part of efforts to restore full train services across the country.He also spoke on the ongoing work on the second-leg of the Lagos-Kano track rehabilitation, stressing that the Jebba-Kano section had advanced to 80 per cent and would be fully restored early next year.The NRC chief also announced the decision of the corporation to purchase 20 pressurised tank wagons in January next year to enable it play a major role in the movement of fuel.He hinted of rejuvenated rail services in the coming year, especially with the rehabilitation of the eastern rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, including Zaria to Kaura Namuda.The corporation has commenced hauling of 450 tonnes of cement freight from Ewekoro to Agege/Ijoko and another movement of 600 tonnes to Ibadan/Osogbo for Larfarge Cement Company, all on weekly basis, he said.
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