By Nnasom David
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has revealed that the Abuja–Kaduna train derailment at Asham Station on August 26, was triggered by defective infrastructure and lapses in safety management by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
According to the preliminary findings, the derailment, the second to occur at the same station within 13 months, happened shortly after the train passed a manually operated switch point that had been previously declared unserviceable.
Investigators 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 highlighted that NRC personnel had only received initial training without formal refresher courses, and critical equipment such as CCTV cameras, communication devices, and clocks remained defective.
Operational and maintenance tools, including spare parts from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), were said to be largely inaccessible.
Although 21 passengers sustained injuries, no lives were lost among the 618 people on board.
The NSIB issued safety recommendations, urging the NRC to replace all compromised sleepers, install OEM-standard point switches along the Abuja–Kaduna route, and restore all defective monitoring equipment.
It also called for regular refresher training for NRC staff to prevent further accidents.
The bureau stressed that the findings were preliminary and subject to further analysis, with a final report expected to provide deeper conclusions and additional safety measures.
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