Barely two days after bandits bombed a train travelling between Abuja and Kaduna the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has directed that the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) resumes operations on Saturday.

“I think what is significant is that the repair was done by our own Nigerian engineers and completed in record time. By tomorrow we expect to run the first train. That is why I had to come here myself physically to be present here,” Mr Amaechi said.

The minister gave the directive after inspecting repairs on the rail tracks between Rijana and Dutse along the route on Friday, and assured of the safety of passengers.

Mr Amaechi said the police and military had been deployed along the train track, adding that he had instructed the service managing director to get a rail bus to “patrol regularly on the track so that we can see what is going to happen even before the train takes off.”

He said these measures will be in place until a digital system is in place for both Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan train services.

The minister said the bomb attack would fasten the procurement process of the digital security system which the government planned to install on the track.

“The essence of the digital security system is to enable us to know when there is an impact on the rail. It has a sensor, when people walk across the rail we will be able to know.

“We will get the police to be involved so that they will be here before we install the security system,” Mr Amaechi said.

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had on October 21 suspended indefinitely service operations along the Abuja-Kaduna route after bandits bombed the railway tracks between the Rijana-Dutse axis.

(NAN)