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From Idu Jude, Abuja
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), yesterday, disclosed that poor infrastructure maintenance and lapses in safety management by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) caused the Abuja–Kaduna train derailment at Asham Station on August 26.
In its preliminary findings, the Bureau noted that the incident, the second derailment at the same station within 13 months, occurred shortly after the train passed a manually operated switch point that had already been declared out of service.
Investigators further discovered that “some of the track sleepers damaged during the earlier derailment were only patched instead of being fully replaced, while the point clip used to secure the switch was broken at the time of the incident.”
The report also faulted NRC’s operational preparedness, revealing that staff had received only initial training without subsequent refresher courses, while vital equipment such as CCTV cameras, communication devices, and clocks remained defective. In addition, spare parts from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) were said to be largely unavailable, hampering maintenance efforts.
The derailment left 21 passengers injured, though no lives were lost among the 618 people on board.
Issuing interim safety recommendations, the NSIB urged the NRC to “replace all compromised sleepers, install OEM-standard point switches along the Abuja–Kaduna corridor, and restore all defective monitoring equipment.” It also called for mandatory refresher training for NRC staff.
The Bureau emphasized that its findings remain preliminary. “The final report will provide deeper conclusions and additional safety measures,” it stated.
