Passengers stranded as Abuja-Kaduna route train breaks down again

The train on Abuja-Kaduna Route has broken down again as it returned from Kaduna on Sunday.

The train was on the morning schedule from Rigasa, Kaduna to Idu, Abuja when it broke down around Akere, a rural area within the route.

It was later discovered that the Nigeria Railways Corporation (NRC) engineers battled to fix it for over three hours.

When contacted, the Operations Manager, Abuja-Kaduna Train Service, Mr. Victor Adamu, confirmed the incident on the telephone but claimed it was a minor issue.

“It’s a small problem and it has been fixed. It happened at Akere, and the train was en-route Idu, Abuja from Rigasa in Kaduna.”

He said he was on transit and could not provide further information. The train has broken down severally in the past, leaving passengers stranded.

Less than three months ago, the breakdowns became too frequent that the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, had to publicly apologise to commuters for the embarrassing situation.

He ordered the Chinese contractor, CCECC to fix or replace the locomotives that were recently procured from China by the federal government to boost train services on the route.

Just five months after the trains were deployed, they had continued to break down, leaving passengers stranded, disrupting their travel plans and also exposing them to undue security risks.

“I would like to apologise to Nigerians over what’s happening at the Abuja to Kaduna rail line. It is worrisome in the sense that they are brand new locomotives. We may be forced to bring back our old locomotives if the breakdown persists, Amaechi had said

It was not immediately clear if NRC has deployed the old locomotives or still using the Chinese-deployed trains.