NRC’s revenue from passengers dropped by 63% in Q1 2023, says NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the total revenue generated by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) from passengers dropped by N1.31 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023.

The figure represents a decline of 63.02 percent relative to the corresponding quarter of 2022.

The latest NRC data is contained in a new report by the NBS, titled, ‘Rail Transportation Data Q1, 2023’.

The report said 441,725  passengers travelled via the rail system in Q1 2023 as against 953,099 recorded in the same quarter last year.

‘The rail transportation data for Q1 2023 showed that a total of 441,725 passengers travelled via the rail system in Q1 2023, lower than the 953,099 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022, representing a growth rate of -53.65 percent,” the report said.

“In addition, 59,966 tons of goods were transported in Q1 2023, compared to 39,379 tons reported in Q1 2022.”

Analysis of the data shows that the decrease in the number of passengers also had a strong effect on the revenue generation of the corporation.

The revenue generated from passengers in Q1 2023 was N768.44 million, while income stood at N2.08 billion in the same period last year.

However, the NBS report said revenue generated from goods and cargo increased insignificantly.

The federal government raked in N181.27 million from goods/cargos in Q1 2023 — a 99.28 percent surge from N90.96 million earned in Q1 2022, according the report.

Further Checks by TheCable Index show that other receipts amounted to N34.17 million, indicating a decline of 41.02 percent in Q1 2023, compared to the N57.92 million collected in Q1 2022.

In March 2022, the NRC suspended its Abuja-Kaduna train operations after an attack by gunmen.

The incident had occurred around the Kateri-Rijana area of Kaduna — close to the train’s final stop.

In a bid to provide security and confidence to passengers, in August 2022, the federal executive council (FEC) approved N718.19 million to two security outfits to protect the 45-kilometre Abuja rail tracks and stations.

After an eight-month suspension, in December 2022, the government lifted the suspension and resumed operations on the Abuja-Kaduna route.

Meanwhile, in all categories in the report, the year 2020 (particularly Q2 2020) suffered the most losses and turnout of passengers due to the COVID-19 lockdown imposed by the federal government to curtail the spread of the virus across Nigeria.