Amidst Insecurity, NRC Generates N3.36bn Revenue From 1.5 Million Passengers In Nine Months

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has generated the sum of N3.36bn in revenues from 1.5 million passengers in the first three quarters (Q1, Q2, and Q3) of 2023 amidst insecurity.

According to the Rail Transportation Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics and collated by THE WHISTLER, the sector realized a total sum of N4.19bn in revenue in nine months when cargoes movement are added to the revenue source.

Recall in 2022, THE WHISTLER reported that the corporation had suspended operations following an attack which took place on the Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28.

This decision according to the immediate Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi resulted in an estimated monthly loss of N300m. The loss accrued to N2.4bn in the eight months that NRC was suspended from operation.

However, a breakdown of the N4.19bn by THE WHISTLER showed that N3.35bn was revenue generated from passengers, N656.07m was generated from goods and cargo while N172.126m was realized from other incomes.

The number of passengers onboard in the period under review stood at 1.51 million while 197,958 was the volume of goods and cargo measured in tons.

Further breakdown of the N3.36bn passenger revenue, showed that N768.43m was generated in Q1, and rose by 43.27 per cent to N1.1bn in Q2 while revenue earned from passengers in Q3 was N1.48bn an increase of 35.27 per cent.

The NRC revealed that it realized the sum of N181.27m in Q1 from goods and cargo, adding that this rose by 3.73 per cent to N188.02m in Q2 and further increased by 52.52 per cent to N286.77m in Q3.

However, there was a decline in revenue by 45.14 per cent in Q2, as N34.16m was realised from other income receipts in Q1 compared to the N18.74m realized in Q2.

In Q3 of 2023, other income receipts saw a surge of 536.02 per cent to the tune of N119. 21m against the preceding quarter.

However, the NRC revenue is expected to drop in the fourth quarter following President Bola Tinubu’s 50 per cent discount for inter-state road travel, and 100 per cent for train trips, for Nigerians travelling for Christmas and New Year celebrations.