Cash-crunch, insecurity cut rail transport revenue by 33% to N768.4m

The state of insecurity and cash crunch challenges witnessed in the country earlier in the year, may have impacted the growth of the rail sub-sector as revenue generated from rail transport fell by 33 per cent to N768.4 million in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1’23) from N1.15 billion in Q4’22.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which disclosed this result yesterday, in its Rail Transport report for Q1’23, noted that the number of passengers of rail transport fell quarterly by 67 per cent to 441,725 in Q1 ’23 from 1.34 million in Q4’22.

Indeed, the refusal of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to accept Point of Sale (POS) or online transactions in the first quarter contributed to the cuts in the sub-sector’s revenue.

Recall that The Guardian had reported in February that the corporation during the cash scarcity in the first quarter of the year refused online transitions despite adoption of cashless payment systems across different segments of the economy.

The NBS report noted that the number of passengers, who travelled through the rail system and revenue generated from them (passengers) fell year-on-year (YoY), in the review period.

“The rail transportation data for Q1 2023 showed that a total of 441,725 passengers travelled via the rail system in Q1 2023, lower than the 953,099 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022, representing a growth rate of -53.6 per cent.

“In addition, 59,966 tons of goods were transported in Q1’23, compared to 39,379 tons reported in Q1’22.

“In terms of revenue generation, N768.44 million was received from passengers over the period, lower by 63.02 per cent relative to N2.08 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

“Similarly, N181.27 million was collected in Q1 2023 as revenue from goods/cargos, up by 99.2 per cent from N90.96 million received in Q1’22.

“In addition, other receipts amounted to N34.17 million, indicating a decline of 41.02 percent in Q1’23, from the N57.92 million collected in Q1’22,” NBS said.

Recall that on January 7, 2023, the country’s rail corporation was attacked in Edo State, leading to the kidnap of many.