NRC explains cause of Abuja–Kaduna rail disruption

The Nigerian Railway Corporation has provided an update on the Abuja–Kaduna train incident involving the KA-2 service, detailing the sequence of events and the extent of impact on passengers.

The KA-2 train departed Rigasa Station at 7:15 a.m. as scheduled and arrived at Jere Station at 8:52 a.m., one minute ahead of time. It, however, departed Jere at 8:59 a.m., about six minutes behind schedule, following the attachment of an additional locomotive to enhance operational stability.

At about 9:16 a.m., while approaching Asham at kilometre 50–51, a loud bang was heard as the power car and trailing locomotive collided with one of the coaches. Preliminary findings indicate that the incident was caused by a fault in one or more couplers, though investigations are still ongoing.

Authorities confirmed that no part of the train derailed during the incident.

Following the impact, the affected components — the trailing locomotive, power car and a passenger coach — were detached from the train to allow the journey to continue.

The train resumed movement from the site at about 9:42 a.m., arriving in Kubwa at 10:10 a.m. and finally reaching its destination at Idu at 10:39 a.m., recording a total delay of 38 minutes.

A total of 481 individuals were on board the train at the time of the incident. Of this number, 429 were passengers, alongside 10 train crew members, 26 security personnel, six vendors, eight cleaners, and two third-party operators.

The corporation reported that 26 individuals sustained varying degrees of injuries, including passengers, crew members and security personnel. All injured persons received prompt medical attention.

Following the incident, the Abuja–Kaduna rail service resumed operations later in the day. The return service from Idu to Rigasa departed at 2:48 p.m., arriving in Kaduna at 5:33 p.m. with the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation and other officials on board.

Subsequently, another service departed Rigasa at 6:12 p.m., arriving in Kubwa at 8:31 p.m. and terminating at Idu Station in Abuja at 8:58 p.m.

The corporation assured the public that investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the coupling failure and to prevent future occurrences.