More Nigerians are beginning to embrace the rail transportation system as revenue rose to ₦1.69bn in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting a 53.14% increase compared to the ₦1.10bn recorded in the same period of 2023.
This data was disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS), in its report released on Thursday.
According to the report, in 2023, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) generated ₦1.07bn as revenue from passengers. It said a total of 689,263 passengers travelled by rail in Q-2, representing a growth rate of 45.38% compared to 474,117 passengers in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
The volume of goods transported via rail also saw a significant increase, with 143,759 tons moved in Q-2 2024, up from 56,936 tons in Q-2 2023.
Additionally, the NRC reported a volume of 5,940 tons of goods transported through pipelines in Q-2 2024, an increase from the 2,856 tons recorded in the same period of the previous year.
Revenue from goods conveyed via rail stood at ₦537.36m in Q-2 2024, a remarkable increase of 206.68%, when compared to ₦175.22m in Q2 2023. The movement of goods through pipelines also contributed to revenue generation, with ₦42.08m collected in Q-2 2024, compared to ₦12.81m in Q-2 2023. Other revenue receipts amounted to ₦994.68m in Q-2 2024, representing a staggering increase of 5,206.6% from the ₦18.74m recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
In the first quarter of 2024, Nigeria spent 2,470 % more on railway debt servicing than it made from rail service revenue.
The Corporation also recorded record revenues of ₦2.12bn in the first half of 2021, an increase of 31% over the same period in 2019, which recorded the previous record revenue. At the same time, revenue from freight transport was down, with gains coming mainly from passenger transport between Lagos and Ibadan on the new standard gauge.
