FG gets N1.49bn revenue from rail passengers, goods in Q4 2023
Omeiza Bilal
The federal government generated revenue of N1.49 billion from passengers and conveying goods/cargos through the nation’s rail transport system in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The amount represents a drop of N284.846 million or 16.04 per cent compared with N1.775 billion generated in the third quarter of the same year.
The Nigeria Railway Corporation report released by Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that a total revenue of N1.067 billion received from passengers while the balance of N423.215 million collected through goods and cargos.
However, the amount generated from passengers during the reference period, showed a decrease of 7.51 per cent compared with N1.15 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.
The report also revealed that the amount collected through conveying goods/ cargos up by 47.58 per cent against N286.775 million recorded in the preceding quarter and an increase of 169.16 per cent from N157.233 million received in the fourth quarter of 2022.
In addition, other receipts amounted to N393.72 million, indicating an increase of 3.02 per cent in received in the fourth quarter of 2023 from the N382.17 million collected in the same period of 2022.
According to the NBS report, in the last quarter of 2023, a total of 672,198 passengers travelled via rail system relative to 1,337,108 reported in the corresponding quarter of 2022, indicating a drop of 49.73 per cent.
The volume of goods/cargos transported in fourth quarter 2023 stood at 119,286 tons compared to 53,136 tons recorded in fourth quarter 2022.
However, on an annual basis, the number of passengers in 2023 fell by 32.08% compared to a drop of 18.36 per cent in the previous year. The revenue received from passengers declined by 2.64% in 2023 against 20.20 per cent in 2022 while volume of cargo and revenue from cargo rose by 102.04 per cent and 144.32 per cent respectively relative to10.24 per cent and 47.34 per cent reported in the same period of 2022.
