Abuja-Kaduna Train Services to resume soon-Muazu Sambo
Oru Leonard
Minister of Transportation, Honourable Sambo Mu’azu has said that Train Services on the Abuja -Kaduna rail corridor will resume in the next one week.
Sambo who arrived the station at Idu in the company of his counterpart from water resources Engr Suleiman Adamu, Minister of state transport Ademola Adegoroye, chairman NRC, Engr Ibrahim Alhassan and the MD railway, Engr Fidet Okhiria said, “all that is humanly possible has been done to secure the lives of passengers on the train.”
The Minister disclosed this after a test ride from. Idu Train Station in Abuja, to Rigasa train station in Kaduna, noting however that passengers without NIN will not be allowed to purchase tickets, just he started the test ride with an inspection of the additional security infrastructure and security personnel.
He explained that 90 percent of the security measures are in place but services would only resume when the remaining ten percent are completed and Nigerians adequately sensitized as to the new mode of operation.
He stressed the fact that no passenger can purchase a ticket or board a train without NIN. However minors can have their tickets purchased by an adult, at the same time, each adult can only purchase tickets for four minors. This he said is to ensure passengers are profiled.
Some of the measures revealed by Sambo include increased security personnel, remote monitoring of the train from start to end of each trip and ability of drivers to detect unusual activity on the track from a distance.
The Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu who expressed satisfaction with the measures he had seen, called on citizens to partner the government to achieve security by providing useful information.
He called on Nigerians to resume their normal travel on the trains as soon as services resume as he is sure that it is safe to do so contrary to the fear created by the attackers.
Recall that Train Services on Abuja Kaduna Corridor were suspended about 8 months ago following the unfortunate attack and kidnap of over a hundred passengers all of who have been realeased.
