Passengers stranded as Abuja-Kaduna train breaks down, faulty engine replaced

Scores of passengers travelling on a Kaduna-Abuja train Monday morning were stranded after their train broke down a few kilometres away from Rigasa Station, Kaduna State.

The train reportedly developed a mechanical fault just some five minutes after leaving Rigasa.

An engineer with the Nigerian Railway Corporation reportedly pleaded with the passengers over the incident, adding that they had contacted the train station at Idu in the Federal Capital Territory for another locomotive to be sent so that the passengers could be conveyed to their destination.

He said, “We are very sorry, the locomotive is faulty. We have contacted the Idu Train Station for another locomotive. It would take them two hours to be here.”

Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Midat Joseph, who was on the train, said the train developed fault around 7am.

“I left my house as early as 5am to join the 6.40am train but unfortunately I have been trapped here in this forest,” Joseph said.

The Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria, confirmed the incident, saying the train broke down as a result of engine failure but added that another engine had taken over.

“It’s an engine failure, but a relief engine has taken over.”

Last year, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had said locomotives on the Abuja-Kaduna rail route broke down up to two times would be returned to China.

He said, “It is worrisome that these locomotives that are brand new are failing,” Amaechi said during an inspection in Lagos.

He said the locomotives had a warranty for over four years, adding that the government was considering returning them to China.

Many people travelling between Abuja and Kaduna use the train because of kidnapping on the road.

Although cases of abduction have abated, the train is still the preferred choice of passengers who go to Abuja from Kaduna and vice versa.