The Abuja-Kaduna rail service will resume in December 2022, according to a federal government extension.
The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, made the following statement on Sunday while touring the train facilities in Kaduna: “We are here to assess the state of readiness of train services between Abuja and Kaduna.”
He clarified that safety precautions have been taken to guarantee the security of people and property while using the train service.
Before train service resumes, Sambo stated that the security areas found during the inspection will be remedied.
In order to ensure that we always know who is on board a train when it is moving from one stop to another, we have implemented a new system whereby, prior to purchasing a ticket, you must provide your phone number and a copy of your national identity card.
“It’s simple: if you don’t have a NIN, you won’t be allowed to board our train. If you are a minor, an adult must pay for you or register on your behalf; an adult may only register a maximum of four minors.”
“We want to give the Nigerian public enough time to listen to this and assimilate this new system, so if we start tomorrow (Monday, November 28, 2022), a lot of people will be disgruntled,” the Minister continued.
The train service would resume, according to Sambo, “between three, four, or five days certainly not more than a week.”
Security precautions have been taken, however since it is a security issue, we won’t discuss what has been done with you. Software exists to verify that you are the NIN.
But he said, “The only one who can guarantee you complete security is Almighty God, but we have done everything humanly possible to secure the lives of service users, and we will keep improving it, keeping an eye on it every day, and making improvements whenever we find any gaps in it.”
Train service between Abuja and Kaduna was halted for eight months after gunmen attacked a train, leaving many people dead, injured, and kidnapped.
Mu’azu Sambo, the Minister of Transportation, declared a few weeks ago that train service will be restored by the end of November 2022.
Nevertheless, the service is still delayed through December 2022 based on the most recent evaluation.
