The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Saturday said the Abuja -Kaduna rail services would resume on July 29.
Amaechi made this know while test-running the new coaches recently deployed on the route.
The services were shut down in March to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
The Minister said there had been pressure from different quarters for the Federal Government to resume the railway services before Sallah.
He said: “We will resume the Abuja-Kaduna train services on Wednesday, July 29.”
Abuja-Kaduna train service will resume operations on Wednesday.
We just conducted inspection of the new coaches on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line. Social distancing is set as the new normal with end to end sitting arrangement. pic.twitter.com/TtTrx0vCdO
— Chibuike R. Amaechi (@ChibuikeAmaechi) July 25, 2020
Amaechi further said after due considerations, President Muhammadu Buhari had agreed that the fare be reviewed to accommodate well-meaning Nigerians.
He said the fare for the economy class was reviewed to N3000 and the Business class to N6000.
The minister added that most passengers are of the opinion that the fare was nothing compared to the menace of kidnappers on the road.
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, said the corporation was ready for the resumption of train services on Wednesday.
“We are ready, it is just a matter of calling the essential staff in the station. We have been checking the coaches and warming the locomotives, so we are ready to go,” Okhiria said.
