Cash Shortages And Insecurity Reduced Rail Transport
The security situation and problems with cash flow that the nation experienced earlier in the year may have hindered the development of the rail sub-sector, since revenue from rail transportation decreased by 33% to N768.4 million in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1’23) from N1.15 billion in the fourth quarter of 221.
In its train Transport report for Q1’23, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which made this finding public yesterday, highlighted that, from 1.34 million passengers in Q4’22 to 441,725 in Q1 ’23, there was a quarterly decline of 67% in train passenger numbers.
In fact, the decline in the sub-sector’s revenue was a result of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC)’s (NRC) unwillingness to accept Point of Sale (POS) or online transactions in the first quarter.
Remember that The Guardian had revealed in February that the company had rejected online transitions throughout the first quarter of the year despite the adoption of cashless payment systems across several economic sectors.
According to the NBS research, both the number of passengers using the train system and the income they earned decreased year over year (YoY) during the evaluation period.
“The rail transportation data for Q1 2023 showed that a total of 441,725 passengers traveled 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 concluded.
Recall that on January 7, 2023, an attack on the country’s rail industry took place in Edo State, leading to multiple kidnappings.
