The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) stated the reason passengers experienced delays along the Abuja-Kaduna train route on Monday was due to the poor supply of diesel needed to power its rolling stock.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Mr Pascal Nnorli, Manager, Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) on Monday night.
NRC said its laboratory tests rejected the diesel that was supplied, as it needs the right specifications. The average cost of diesel was N824.87 per litre in the North-Central region for December 2022.
Short Supply: In the statement, they revealed the supply available was also rejected after lab tests, which fell short of specifications. They said:
- “The management of the NRC sincerely apologises to our esteemed customers who may have experienced a delay in our Abuja-Kaduna train service on Monday, Jan. 23.
- “The delay was caused by the supply of diesel/AGO, which fell short of the specification required to operate our rolling stock, which was out rightly rejected after statutory laboratory test.
- “The compulsory laboratory test is carried out on all liquid that is used on the rolling stock, locomotives inclusive to ensure that the right specifications are utilized.”
What you should know
NBS revealed the average retail price of Diesel paid by consumers in December 2022 was N817.86 per litre, an increase of 182.64% from N289.37 per litre recorded in the corresponding month of the previous year.
On a month-on-month basis, this increased by 1.11% from N808.87 per litre reported in November 2022.
Nigerians in the South-East paid an average of N826.57 per litre in December 2022 while people in the South-West states paid an average of N841.35 per litre.
The average diesel price per litre for the rest of the zones across the country:
- N824.87 per litre in the North-Central.
- N806.32 per litre in the North-West.
- N811.72 per litre in the North-East
- N798.54 per litre in the South-South.