The Nigerian Railway Corporation has confirmed that 26 passengers and crew members were injured to varying degrees following a train incident on the Abuja–Kaduna rail corridor on Monday, March 16.
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In a statement issued on Tuesday via his X handle, the Managing Director of the NRC, Kayode Opeifa, said the incident occurred at about 9:16 a.m. near Asham Station when a loud bang was heard as part of the train formation collided.
According to him, the Kaduna–Abuja service (KA-2) departed Rigassa Station at 7:15 a.m. and arrived Jere Station one minute ahead of schedule at 8:52 a.m.
“The train departed Jere at 8:59 a.m., six minutes behind schedule due to the coupling of locomotive 2809 to the rake to create more resilience,” he said.
Opeifa explained that the incident occurred between kilometre points 50 and 51 as the train approached Asham Station.
“At about 9:16 a.m., a loud bang was heard as the power car and trailing locomotive collided with one of the coaches. Preliminary reports suggest an issue with one or more couplers.
“None of the coaches derailed, and the reason for the possible decoupling is yet to be ascertained,” he said.
He added that two vehicles and the trailing locomotive involved in the incident — locomotive 2809, power car BVA0002, and passenger coach SP0006 — were subsequently detached.
The train later departed the scene at 9:42 a.m., arrived at Kubwa at 10:10 a.m., and reached its final destination at Idu Station at 10:39 a.m., recording a total delay of 38 minutes.
Providing details of those on board, Opeifa said a total of 481 persons were on the train, including 429 passengers who boarded out of 459 booked. Others on board included 10 train crew members, 26 security personnel, six food vendors, eight cleaners, and two third-party operators.
“A total of 26 people with varying degrees of injuries were recorded among the passengers, medical crew, cleaners, and security personnel attached to the service,” he said.
On service recovery, the NRC boss said operations resumed later in the day, with the Abuja–Kaduna train service commencing the AK1 trip from Idu to Rigassa at 2:48 p.m., against a scheduled departure time of 11:00 a.m.
He added that the train arrived Rigassa at 5:33 p.m., with him and other NRC officials on board, and that a return service departed Rigassa at 6:12 p.m., arriving Kubwa at 8:31 p.m. and Idu at 8:58 p.m.