Warri-Itakpe rail service resumes Monday

The Warri-Itakpe Train Services will resume operations on Monday, April 24, 2023, The PUNCH learnt.

The Station Manager, Helma Sani, disclosed this to our correspondent in Abuja on Monday.

He said, “We are resuming operation on Monday 24/4/2023.”

Recall that in January 2023, 148 passengers and 38 crew members of a train plying the Warri-Itakpe route escaped death when the train derailed inside the Kogi forest, forcing them (passengers) to be stranded.

Many passengers reportedly abandoned the train for fear of being kidnapped.
It was gathered that the train left Warri early Sunday and got derailed at around noon inside the forest between Ajaokuta and Itakpe.
The Delta and Kogi State police commands could not immediately confirm the incident, but the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okhiria, confirmed it.

Okhiria said as of the time he was talking to The PUNCH, the stranded passengers had been evacuated.

The NRC boss said, “The train derailed and we were able to move the passengers out of the place. We will announce when to commence operation again. Yes, we have evacuated the passengers.”

As a result of this, the Nigerian Railway Corporation through the Coordinator of Warri Itakpe Train Service, Sanni Abdulganiyu, suspended rail operations on the corridor.