The minister of transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, has announced that the Abuja-Kaduna train service will not resume today as previously scheduled.
He stated this while on an inspection train ride from Abuja to Kaduna yesterday, adding that the resumption will be delayed by one week to allow passengers to be properly informed about the new process of obtaining tickets and other requirements.
The minister also stated that the line is fully secured and ready for operations, but that due to the new ticketing requirements, a small extension of time is required, possibly by a few days or no more than a week.
“The issue of whether the train will start tomorrow or not, we have not said the train services will start tomorrow (Monday),” he says emphatically. Before you purchase a ticket, we have implemented a new system. When purchasing a ticket, you must provide a phone number and a national identification number in order to profile, as this is the first step in the security checks.
“So, at any point in time when a train moves from one station to another we know who and who are on board. If you don’t have an NIN you are not going to board our train. It is as simple as that. if you are a minor, an adults will pay for you and will register for you and an adult can only register for not more than four minors.
“Now, we want to give sufficient time for the Nigerian public to listen to these and assimilate this new system? Because if we start Monday, a lot of people will be disgruntled.”
