CEM REPORT, TRANSPORTATION | The number of rail transport passengers dropped by 67 per cent leading to a 33 per cent revenue decline in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1’23).
Rail transport revenue generation in the nation fell to N768.4 million in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1’23) from N1.15 billion in Q4’22.
While passenger inflow fell quarterly by 67 per cent to 441,725 in Q1 ’23 from 1.34 million in Q4’22.
This is according to data recently released by the Rail Transportation Data report released by Nigeria’s Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report detailed that the number of passengers in comparison to the corresponding quarter of 2022 fell by 53.65 per cent from 953,099 to 441,725 passengers.
The NBS in its report attributed the decline in revenue and passengers to the cash crunch as the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) refused to accept Point of Sale (POS) or online transactions in the first quarter.
However, there was a notable increase of 99.28% in revenue from goods and cargo.
“The rail transportation data for Q1 2023 showed that a total of 441,725 passengers travelled via the rail system in Q1 2023, lower than the 953,099 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022, representing a growth rate of -53.65%.
“In addition, 59,966 tons of goods were transported in Q1 2023, compared to 39,379 tons reported in Q1 2022.”
A breakdown of the Rail transport revenue generating for the quarter in review reveals that the transport sub-sector generated the most revenue from goods/cargo which was up by 99.28 per cent.
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“In terms of revenue generation, N768.44 million was received from passengers over the period, lower by 63.02% relative to N2.08 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
“Similarly, N181.27 million was collected in Q1 2023 as revenue from goods/cargos, up by 99.28% from N90.96 million received in Q1 2022.
“In addition, other receipts amounted to N34.17 million, indicating a decline of 41.02% in Q1 2023, from the N57.92 million collected in Q1 2022.”
