The Federal Government has generated a total of ₦1.16 billion through the rail system of transportation in the first and second quarters of 2018.
This was revealed by the Railway Sector Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The Report shows that the amount was generated from two main revenue sources.
Passengers Revenue
According to the report, a total amount of ₦849.01 million was realised from passengers who transited through the rail in the first half of the year. A further breakdown of the amount revealed that, in the first quarter of 2018, ₦435.96 million was generated from passengers while the sum of ₦413.05 million was realised in the second quarter of the year.
The revenue generated from passengers shows a quarter on quarter decline of 5.3% from ₦435.96 million generated from them in the previous quarter of Q1 2018.
A total of 730,289 passengers travelled through the rail system in Q2 2018, which is a reduction from the total of 748,345 passengers recorded in the first quarter of 2018. This represents a quarter on quarter decline of 2.41% in the second quarter of the year.
Goods/Cargo Revenue
The NBS report also shows that the Federal Government generated ₦310.36 million from the transportation of cargoes in the first half of the year.
A breakdown reveals that ₦159.28 million was recorded as revenue from cargoes in the first quarter of the year while the sum of ₦151.28 million was generated in Q2 2018.
Also, the report put the total number of goods/cargo that travelled through the rail system in Nigeria in Q1 2018 at 85,816 tonnes compared to 79,750 tonnes that were recorded in the previous quarter of Q1 2018
FG Losing ₦40m million to Rail Subsidy
Meanwhile, for subsidising the railway transportation in the country, Nigeria is losing about ₦40 million monthly in revenue, according to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who disclosed this recently.
He said:
“We are still under pressure to have more locomotives and more coaches because more people are now using the rail. But you know typical Nigerians, they like free things.
“We spend ₦56 million per locomotive, and we get ₦16 million. If we increase it (the fare), you will start abusing us. But you see, it is subsidised. So, the government is subsidising you.”
