By Abiola Olawale
The Nigerian Senate has officially launched a sweeping investigation into the decline of the Abuja-Kaduna railway operations, following reports that service efficiency has deteriorated to a near-collapse.
During a plenary session on Thursday, January 29, 2026, lawmakers expressed outrage over the “tragic” state of what was once Nigeria’s flagship rail corridor.
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio delivered a critique of the current speed of the trains, remarking that the service has become so sluggish that a bicycle or a commercial tricycle (Keke Napep) could now reach Kaduna faster than the multi-billion naira rail system.
The decision to investigate followed a motion raised by Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), who presented a “tragic story” of the rail line’s decline since its inception.
Ningi told the Senate that when the service commenced in 2015, the railway operated 10 daily trips. That is five from Abuja to Kaduna and five in the opposite direction, moving about 10,000 passengers daily.
According to him, those figures have collapsed dramatically.
Ningi said: “Last two weeks, I visited Kaduna like I used to with the railway, and what I found was disturbing.
“I met the manager, and he gave me the statistics. From about 10,000 passengers a day, the number has dropped to between 800 and 900.”
He added that the daily shuttles had been reduced from 10 to just two, with only one trip from Abuja to Kaduna at 7am and another from Kaduna to Abuja at 1.30pm.
Ningi further disclosed that at full capacity, the railway generated about N1.8 billion monthly, a revenue stream now severely threatened by the sharp decline in patronage.
Recounting his latest journey, the Bauchi senator said passengers spent over three and a half hours on a trip that once took 90 minutes, with the train moving at what he described as a painfully slow speed.
He said: “When the railway started, it was one and a half hours to Kaduna. Last week when I went, we spent three and a half hours. People had no alternatives.
“This is very disturbing. It should disturb this Senate and Nigerians that, as it is, nobody seems ready to do anything about it.”
Ningi also alleged that some equipment installed during the execution of the rail contract may have been second-hand, suggesting that Nigeria was short-changed.
Responding, Akpabio said the Senate would not ignore the complaints and inaugurated the ad hoc committee to probe the railway system, identify the causes of the decline, and recommend urgent remedial measures.
Other members of the committee include Senators Hussaini Babangida (Jigawa North-West), Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), and Wasiu Eshinlokun (Lagos Central).
Others are Osita Ngwu (Enugu West), Solomon Adeola (Ogun West), Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe Central), Ireti Kingibe (FCT), Ede Dafinone (Delta Central), Sahabi Yau (Zamfara North), and Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central).
The Abuja–Kaduna standard gauge rail line, spanning 186.5 kilometres, was inaugurated in 2016 by the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
The project, estimated at $1.64 billion, was initiated under late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, continued under President Goodluck Jonathan, and executed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
