The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said on Saturday the Abuja -Kaduna rail services would resume on July 29 despite the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the country.
Amaechi disclosed this while test-running the new coaches recently deployed on the route.
The train services were shut down to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
According to the minister, there had been pressure from several quarters for the Federal Government to order the resumption of the railway services before Sallah.
He said: “We will resume the Abuja-Kaduna train services on Wednesday, July 29.”
On the fare, Amaechi said after due considerations, President Muhammadu Buhari agreed that the fare be reviewed to accommodate well-meaning Nigerians.
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He said the fare for the economy class was reviewed to N3000 and the Business class to N6000.
The minister added that most passengers are of the opinion that the fare was nothing compared to the menace of kidnappers on the road.
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, said the corporation was ready for the resumption of train services on Wednesday.
“We are ready, it is just a matter of calling the essential staff in the station. We have been checking the coaches and warming the locomotives, so we are ready to go,” Okhiria said.
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