As road transport fares continue to surge across the geo-political zones in the country, more Nigerians are exploring rail transportation alternative as a total of 743,205 passengers travelled via rail system in the third quarter of this year relative to 594,348 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2023, indicating a growth rate of 25.05%.
The latest ‘Rail Transport Q3 2024 Report’ published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday, December 12, indicated that the volume of goods/cargo transported via rail in the quarter increased to 96,401 tons compared to 69,003 tons recorded in Q3 2023.
According to the report, in the quarter under review, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) reported an additional volume of goods/cargo transported via pipeline which stood at 7,320 tons, lower than 12,960 tons in Q3 2023.
The statistics agency also reported that in terms of revenue generation, fares paid by rail transport passengers in Q3 2024 rose to N1.70 billion, showing an increase of 13.83% from the N1.49 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.
Similarly, the report reflected that revenue generated from goods/cargo conveyed through rail transportation during the quarter surged to N412.57 million, up by 89.60% from N217.60 million received in Q3 2023.
In addition, the figures in the report indicated that revenue generated from the movement of goods/cargo via pipeline stood at N51.85 million in Q3 2024, lower than the N69.18 million reported in the corresponding period of last year.
The Bureau reported that other receipts from the rail transportation in Q3 this year amounted to N34.77 million, indicating a decrease of 70.84% in Q3 2024 from the N119.22 million received in Q3 2023.
