The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says its investigation revealed that the derailment of the Abuja–Kaduna train was due to human error and overspeeding.

On August 26, the train, which was travelling from Abuja to Kaduna, veered off the track as several coaches tumbled.

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) detailed that six people sustained injuries but no fatality was recorded.

In a statement on Monday, Kayode Opeifa, managing director of NRC, said 618 passengers were on board during the incident.

He added that the 22 passengers who sustained injuries are at different stages of recovery.

The NRC boss said the agency had reached out to 512 passengers, while 71 remain unreachable due to non-responsiveness, wrong contacts, or unavailability.

He stated that the corporation had concluded its internal investigation on the accident and the management has accepted the recommendations.

Opeifa said the corporation is waiting for the reports from the ministerial committee and the NSIB before final decisions would be taken.

He said engineers had successfully re-railed and recovered all coaches and locomotives involved in the derailment.

The MD added that the main track line had been repaired to a safe level, with work continuing on the secondary track.

“Safety remains our top priority. The corporation reaffirms its determination to restore public confidence in rail services,” he said.

“Our in-house investigation revealed that the train was traveling at excessive speed, and the operator misapplied the emergency braking system.

“Management has accepted all recommendations of the investigative team and corrective measures are being implemented immediately.”