Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Monday said the insecurity on the Abuja-Kaduna road has forced thousands of passengers to start using the train, raising the passenger volume on the railway by 270 percent.

According to Amaechi, the passenger traffic on the Abuja-Kaduna rail service has risen to 3,700 daily from its carrying capacity of 1,000 people.

The Minister noted that the high passenger volume on the route was the reason why thousands of passengers were often found standing on the coaches while travelling, pledging that more coaches would soon be added on the route.

“The reason we allowed standing on the Abuja-Kaduna train is the insecurity that has made it unbearable to insist on sitting.

But once we get the next 10 coaches we are sending to Abuja-Kaduna, the situation where passengers stand inside our coaches will be reduced.

“Although it will not solve the problem of the 3,700 passengers, at least it will reduce the number of those who stand.

“The actual number of passengers that the service can take for the sitting capacity is about 1,000 plus but we are carrying 3,700 people daily.

“So if you add 10 coaches of 84 passengers per coach, you will know that we are under pressure. We know that when the coaches come and we make it more regular the pressure will be reduced,” he said.