Rail transport revenue rose by 122 percent, Year-on-Year to N2.11 billion in the first quarter of 2024 from N949.94 million in the first quarter of 2023.

According to the Rail Transport Report by the National Bureau of Statistics, the N2.11 billion revenue is made up of N1.42 billion from passengers, N607.32 million from goods/cargo, N59.14 million from goods/cargo via pipeline and N25.4 million from other receipts.

The data was released by NBS on Monday, July 1, 2024.

NBS revealed: “In terms of revenue generation, N1.42 billion was received from passengers during the reference period, showing an increase of 84.91 percent from the N768.44 million recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.

“Similarly, N607.32 million was collected from goods/cargo conveyed via rail in Q1’24, up by 235 percent from N181.27 million received in Q1’23.

“In addition, revenue generated from the movement of goods/cargo via pipeline stood at N59.14 million in Q1’24.

“Other receipts amounted to N25.40 million, indicating a decline of 25.7 percent in Q1’24 from the N34.2 million received in Q1’23.”

NBS added that 675,293 passengers travelled using trains in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 441,725 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2023, indicating a growth rate of 53 percent.

“The volume of goods/cargo transported via rail in Q1’24 stood at 160,650 tons compared to 59,966 tons recorded in Q1’23.

“In the quarter under review, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) reported an additional volume of goods/cargo transported via pipeline which stood at 8,000 tons.”