The Nigerian Railway Corporation generated N1.69 billion as revenue from passengers in Q2 of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has said.
Passenger numbers surged to 689,263, marking a 45.38% increase compared to 474,117 passengers in Q2 2023. Additionally, revenue from rail services rose to ₦1.69 billion in Q2 2024, a 53.14% jump from ₦1.10 billion in the same quarter of 2023.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation’s, NRC, revenue from passengers in 2023 totaled ₦1.07 billion, highlighting the growth in rail usage. Furthermore, the volume of goods transported by rail also experienced a notable rise, with 143,759 tons moved in Q2 2024, a substantial increase from 56,936 tons in Q2 2023.
This uptick in rail transport usage reflects growing public confidence in the system and increasing adoption of rail services for both passenger travel and freight transport across the country.
The NRC has continued to show strong growth in revenue and operations, as reflected in the latest data from Q2 2024. In addition to the increase in passenger numbers and goods transported, the NRC also recorded impressive growth in the movement of goods through pipelines and associated revenue.
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The volume of goods transported via pipelines reached 5,940 tons in Q2 2024, up from 2,856 tons in Q2 2023, revenue generated from goods conveyed via rail was ₦537.36 million, a significant 206.68% increase compared to ₦175.22 million in Q2 2023, the movement of goods through pipelines contributed ₦42.08 million in Q2 2024, compared to ₦12.81 million in the same period in 2023. The NRC also saw a dramatic rise in other revenue streams, totaling ₦994.68 million in Q2 2024, up by 5,206.68% from ₦18.74 million in Q2 2023.
Despite these positive figures, the NRC has also faced challenges. In Q1 2024, Nigeria spent 2,470% more on railway debt servicing than it generated from rail service revenue. This underscores the financial strain that infrastructure investments and debt servicing are putting on the sector, despite growing revenues.
In previous years, the NRC recorded significant milestones, including record revenues of ₦2.12 billion in the first half of 2021, a 31% increase compared to the same period in 2019. However, it is important to note that much of the revenue growth was driven by passenger services, particularly between Lagos and Ibadan on the new standard gauge, while freight transport revenues saw a decline during that time.
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