There are plans to introduce insurance policies that will provide cover for trains, their passengers and cargoes on transit.
These were from investigations on the operations of firms underwriting non-life businesses.
Reports from the Motor Technical Commitee of the Nigeria Insurers Association said it had begun working on plans to develop a rail insurance policy.
The Director -General, NIA, Mr Sunday Thomas, said any company that had a general business insurance licence could underwrite rail insurance.
” It is going to be like looking at an aircraft,the cargo the trains carry,the passengers and the rail route,all of those will be contained in the package for rail transportation,”he said.
Efforts have been made by several administrations to revamp the rail system and make it more attractive for passengers and movement of cargoes,especially the evacuation of cargoes by rail from the Apapa Terminal in Lagos to other parts of the country.
It would be recalled that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s adninistration had introduced a 25-year rail development plan,which was to commence from Lagos to Kano at a cost of $8.3bn.
