Lagos District: NRC moves 1 million passengers in 6 months
NRC
By Kazeem Akande
Lagos, July 25, 2018 (NAN) The Lagos District of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) said on Wednesday that it transported some one million passengers in its shuttle service trains between January and June.
Mr Jerry Oche, the Lagos Railway District Manager (RDM) of the NRC, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
“We operated 16-passenger trains daily from Apapa/Iddo to Ijoko, in Ogun, using the Diesel Multiple Units (DMU) and the Mass Transit Trains (MTT), during the period,’’ Oche said.
The RDM said that 818,264 passengers were transported through the MTT service, while the DMU and the Express trains moved 79,531 and 8,505 passengers respectively within the period.
According to him, the Lagos district is popular for its excursion train rides, which are frequently patronised by schools, organisations and agencies.
Oche said that the corporation was planning to acquire locomotives and wagons of different models to expand the operation of the mass transit trains.
The RDM said that the menace of roof-top riders posed a serious threat to the smooth running of train services within the Lagos district.
According to him, the complete eradication of rooftop riding is required to boost passengers patronage and enhance the corporation’s reputation.
He said that efforts were being made to find a permanent solution to the menace.
“Very soon, the act of climbing the roof-top of the train will come to a permanent stop in Lagos,’’ Oche told NAN.
The manager said that the relatively low speed of the trains in operation now was one of the reasons why some people risked their lives riding on the top of the coaches.
“When the operation of standard gauge line starts, it will bring outright end to the menace of roof top riders,’’ he said.
NAN reports that NRC has again warned members of the public, especially traders, against encroaching on rail tracks while doing their businesses to avert accidents.
Oche reiterated the warning against the backdrop of Friday’s incident in which three persons died at a railway crossing in Lagos.
The manager said it was regrettable that people had refused to heed the corporation’s warnings on the dangers of trading or driving carelessly on rail tracks.
Recall that three persons were killed while many others sustained injuries after a train hit a commercial bus at Pen Cinema railway crossing on Friday.(NAN)
AKA/SOA
Edited by Oluwole Sogunle