Nigerian railway operations are resumed eight months after a significant attack.

The Kaduna train attack was one of several significant occurrences this year that highlighted the difficulty Nigeria's overworked security personnel are confronting.

Eight months after it was discontinued due to one of the most high-profile kidnapping instances in the nation, a train service connecting Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, with Kaduna, a city in the country's north, has started running again.

On March 28, militants attacking a train between Abuja and Kaduna used explosives to blow up the tracks. They started shooting, leaving 26 people injured, eight dead, and more than 100 passengers captive.

Following discussions with their captors, who were thought to have obtained sizable ransom payments from their families, the hostages were freed in groups.

The train left the nation's capital of Abuja around 10am (09:00 GMT) on Monday, according to reporters from the local Punch newspaper and the AFP news agency who were at the railway station. The train traveled for two hours to Kaduna.

Only one-third of the train's capacity was occupied by passengers, but they were enthusiastic that the service was back after an absence of eight months.

The 50-year-old university professor who was traveling with the train, Ganiyat Adesina, told AFP, "I was only waiting for the beginning of this train service again, so I was really glad to be here today."

To avoid the traffic jams on the road, she arrived early at the station.

We observed a group of military personnel with two armored tanks and other vehicles approximately 30 minutes after her arrival. There were roughly five of them, she continued.

I honestly anticipate the federal government acting in this manner.

It had been "extremely stressful for others and for myself, I even had to stop coming to Kaduna for the previous eight months," she added, adding that moving between Abuja and Kaduna had been difficult.

Police said they had deployed personnel and equipment to protect the passengers and secure the tracks.

The family of the captives insisted on their release before the Nigerian Railway Corporation, who operate the train, could resume operations between Abuja and Kaduna.

The security of the travelers on the road was another issue that worried them.

Gunmen frequently target the Abuja highway and kidnap motorists, forcing them to take the train instead of driving.

The expansion of the railway is important to President Muhammadu Buhari's infrastructure programs as he prepares to leave office following a vote in February.

The Kaduna train attack was one of several significant occurrences this year that highlighted the difficulty Nigeria's overworked security personnel are confronting.

Armed bandits in the country's northwest, Boko Haram and its offshoots in the northeast, and separatist strains in the southeast are all sources of conflict that the military is confronting.

Before the presidential election, the security issue will be a significant concern for Buhari's successor.