Rail transport revenue increases by 8.8% to N6.05bn

Nigeria's rail transport industry has recorded a rise of 8.8 per cent, Year-on-Year to N6.05 billion from N5.56 billion in 2022.

This was made known by the National Bureau of Statistic (NBS) on Monday, April 1, 2024, in its Rail Transport Report for the fourth quarter of 2023.

According to the report, the revenue made in 2023 comprised N4.42 billion from passengers, N1.07 billion from goods and cargos and N565.84 million from other income receipts.

The report also indicated that the number of cargos\goods transported by rail during the period stood at 317,244 while the number of passengers was 2.18 million.

The number of passengers however, reduced by 49.7 percent to 672,198.

Parts of the report read: “In Q4’23, a total of 672,198 passengers travelled via rail system relative to 1,337,108 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022, indicating a growth rate of -49.73 percent.

“The volume of goods/cargos transported in Q4’23 stood at 119,286 tons compared to 53,136 tons recorded in Q4’22.

“In terms of revenue generation, N1.07 billion was received from passengers during the reference period, showing a decrease of 7.51 percent from the N1.15 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.

“Similarly, N423.22 million was collected from goods/cargos conveyed in Q4’23, up by 169.16 percent from N157.23 million received in Q4’22.

“In addition, other receipts amounted to N393.72 million, indicating an increase of 3.02 percent in Q4’23 from the N382.17 million collected in Q4’22.

“However, on an annual basis, the number of passengers in 2023 fell by 32.08 percent compared to the previous year.

“The revenue received from passengers declined by 2.64 percent in 2023, while volume of cargo and revenue from cargo rose by 102.04 percent, and 144.32 percent respectively relative to 2022.”

BEB