Nigerian Railway Corporation Temporarily Suspended Warri-Itakpe Train Service Due To Technical Faults

Warri, Delta State — The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has announced the temporary suspension of train services on the Warri-Itakpe route due to a significant technical issue that resulted in the failure of a train engine.

The disruption, which occurred on Tuesday, April 9, 2025, affected both the 8:00 AM departure from Warri and the 2:00 PM train from Itakpe.

This suspension, which will last 72 hours, is expected to allow NRC’s technical team to conduct a thorough audit and resolve all issues affecting the line.

In a statement released on Thursday by Henrietta Eregare, NRC’s Public Relations Officer, the corporation confirmed that the disruption began at about 1:38 PM on the 9th of April, shortly after both trains had departed. The failure of the engine hampered the recovery efforts, requiring the immediate activation of emergency recovery protocols.

However, these efforts faced setbacks as the engine malfunction could not be resolved quickly enough.

“As soon as the technical fault was identified, we activated our emergency protocols to recover the situation. Unfortunately, due to the severity of the issue, the recovery vehicles also faced delays,” said Henrietta Eregare in the NRC statement.

“Passenger safety remains our top priority, and we arranged for road transport to evacuate all affected passengers.”

In response to the incident, NRC swiftly coordinated the evacuation of passengers to waiting cars approximately 500 meters away from the affected train.

Some passengers, frustrated by the delays, opted to make their own transportation arrangements before the official recovery vehicles arrived.

To mitigate the impact of the suspension, the NRC has assured all affected passengers that they are eligible for either a full refund or revalidation of their tickets for future travel.

Passengers can access refund and revalidation details via the NRC’s online ticketing platform, customer service lines, and at all NRC stations.

“We deeply regret the inconvenience caused by this unforeseen disruption. We are committed to restoring service as quickly as possible while ensuring the safety and comfort of all our passengers,” said the NRC in its statement.

The corporation thanked the public for their patience and understanding as they work to resolve the technical issues.

They further reassured passengers that all efforts would be made to resume service once the necessary repairs and audits have been completed.

The NRC also stated that while the suspension of service is expected to last for 72 hours, further updates will be provided through their communication channels.