Nigeria rail system records 53% revenue growth in Q2 2024

The Nigerian rail system generated N1.69 billion in passenger revenue in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting a 53.14% increase from the N1.10 billion recorded in Q2 2023.

This was revealed in a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.

The report highlighted that 689,263 passengers travelled by rail during Q2 2024, marking a 45.38% rise compared to 474,117 passengers in the same period of 2023.

Goods transportation by rail also surged, with 143,759 tons moved in Q2 2024, up from 56,936 tons in Q2 2023. The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) also reported a significant increase in pipeline transportation, with 5,940 tons of goods transported via pipelines in Q2 2024, compared to 2,856 tons in Q2 2023.

Revenue from goods transported by rail reached N537.36 million in Q2 2024, a 206.68% jump from N175.22 million in Q2 2023. Pipeline transportation generated N42.08 million in revenue, compared to N12.81 million in Q2 2023.

Other revenue sources contributed N994.68 million in Q2 2024, showing an astounding increase of 5,206.68% from the N18.74 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Earlier in 2024, it was reported that Nigeria spent significantly more on servicing railway debt than it generated from railway revenue, spending 2,470% more on debt servicing than it made in Q1 2024.

In comparison, the Nigerian Railway Corporation generated N1.07 billion from passengers in 2023.