The minister of transportation, Mua’zu Sambo made it clear that while Abuja-Kaduna Train Resumes operation in the coming week, National Identification Number will be needed.
The minister made the disclosure while checking the progress of the railway renovation with a test run on the train services which came to an abrupt stop on March 28 after a kidnapping incident along the railway line.
Since the attack, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics have shown that while there was a 44.3 percent reduction in the number of passengers between the first and second quarter, a 28 percent loss was recorded in revenue from passengers.
Mua’zu said: “I want to be very categorical about that. Now, we have introduced a new system before you buy a ticket. Your purchase of a ticket requires you to provide a phone number and a national identification number to profile because that is the beginning of the security checks.
“So, at any point in time when a train moves from one station to another, we know who and who is 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 adult will pay for you and will register for you and an adult can only register for not more than four minors.”
He noted that the Federal Government wanted to give sufficient time for the Nigerian public to listen to these and assimilate this new system to avoid people getting disgruntled.
“Certain concrete measures that are feasible include ticketing. Security starts with ticketing. So, now you don’t buy a ticket unless you have a valid phone number and you have a NIN,”he concluded.
