The Nigerian Railway Corporation witnessed revenue growth in 2021 according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ Transport sector report. According to the report, the number of passengers who patronised railways in the country increased as well as recorded revenue.
The report shows that a total number of 2.714 million passengers travelled via train in 2021, a significant increase from the previous year’s figure of 1.020 million passengers.
Revenue also increased accordingly from the 2020 figure of N1.75 billion to N5.7 billion.
Trains were also used for transporting goods, with an increase in the volume of goods transported from 87,440 Tons in 2020 to 168,301 Tons in 2021.
The sector recorded a total revenue of N6.674 billion including N317 million from cargo and N66 million from other income receipts.
However, despite the growth in revenue, the Railway corporation fell short of its quoted personnel cost put at N9.14 billion for 2021. Total revenue for 2021 is 36% lesser than the total personnel cost quoted to the sector.
The increase in revenue for the railway corporation in 2021 does not yet translate to profitability. The trains need to have far more customers and transport far more cargo to become profitable and a real source of revenue for the government.
One critical part of ensuring that is to ensure safety of railways and encourage Nigerians to trust the rails again after repeated attacks on trains in the country.
In the last 2 years alone, there have been at least three reported attacks on trains in Nigeria. Two attacks reported within 24-hours in March, this year and one attack in October, 2021.
In March 2022, passengers were kidnapped and others killed on the Abuja-Kaduna train, forcing the government to shut down train operations for weeks.
The March incident is the second time the Abuja-Kaduna rail line was attacked. The Abuja-Kaduna train had been previously attacked in October 2021.
Asides from the issue of safety, the repairs needed for the Kaduna-Abuja railway alone after the March 2022 attack is 45% of the revenue made in 2021.
Although the Nigerian government has introduced measures to check the activities of bandits and other groups terrorising its railways, it is important to continually affirm its readiness to keep the trains safe, to cement the growing interest of Nigerians in travelling and transporting goods via trains.