Abuja-Kaduna Rail Well-Secured – Minister
By Abdullahi Ahmad Bamalli
The Minister Of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, has said that the Abuja-Kaduna train’s security features guarantee passengers’ maximum safety.
Sambo stated this while riding on the train to inspect the security features and other measures put in place to protect passengers and also forestall subsequent attacks that may occur while plying the Abuja-Kaduna corridor after the resumption.
The minister was accompanied by the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Hussein Adamu, Minister of State for Transportation; Prince Ademola Adegoroye, Chairman governing board Nigeria Railway Corporation; Ibrahim Musa, Directors of the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the managing director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Fidet Okhiria.
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Sambo also said the train service on the corridor is 90 per cent ready and that the remaining 10 per cent would be achieved in the next couple of days for a full resumption of rail services.
He said the remaining days would be utilised to achieve the balance of 10 per cent and be sure that the guarantee he is giving Nigerians to use the train is 100 per cent.
He added that introducing the NIN would also help check racketeering cases, as a person can only purchase a ticket per trip with his NIN.
On the mode of operations, the minister said there would be slight changes as the number of trips will be reduced because a certain number of Nigerians may not be comfortable coming back to the train for obvious reasons.
He said the number of trips will eventually pick up when people are more comfortable riding on the train and that there wouldn’t be night trips for now.
On the price of tickets, Sambo said passengers should, however, expect some increase in fares which may take time as a panel consultation with the management of the Nigeria Railway Cooperation and management of the ministry is ongoing.
He said the rise in maintenance cost is one of the reasons for the possible increase in the train fare, which he said had affected aeroplane fares too.
