At this point, an official (called a checker) comes over to check our tickets. A ticket costs N230 flat.
This fare previously cost N150, but the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) hiked the fare two months ago — and this caused an uproar. People rioted and burnt the Itoki train station. Consequently, the NRC closed that station, and now trains don’t stop there any more.
“The N230 fare costs too much,” another passenger named Uche says. “They should revert to the old pricing. Some people cannot afford this one.
“Besides, the service is not worth it. Apart from the discomfort, the trains have not been reliable, though this seems to be improving.
Talking with an NRC official. He did not want his name mentioned, but he was cool with having this picture taken.
“Sometimes a train breaks down or derails on the way, and people get delayed. For instance, last Saturday on my way home, our train stopped impromptu at the Iju station because another train had derailed on the way and there was no way we could pass through.
“So they had to call the engineers who would fix the problem. We waited four hours hoping it would be fixed soon, then people became frustrated and some of us trekked to Agbado.”
An NRC official at one of the stations tells me privately, “The main problem is management and funding. Government is not managing the rail system properly and that is why things are this way. Funding is very inadequate. At the moment, we’re simply running a skeletal operation. The rail-roads are not maintained well enough. Now we have only one working rail track. The other tracks are in disrepair. The trains themselves need to be worked on.
The inside of a regular coach. When all the seats are taken, commuters stand.
“I believe the best solution would be to privatise the system. If the trains are privately owned, the service would improve because the owners would want to stay competitive. Then more people would be interested in travelling by train.”
Another official says, “The Railway Corporation raised the fare to lower the number of passengers and curb overcrowding. But that has not worked. What the government needs to do is to bring more coaches and also do more rail-roads so that more trains can move at the same time. Even one more rail-road will make a lot of difference.”
Two months ago, the federal government launched two trains of a newer model and six coaches for the two trains. These ones are called Diesel Multiple Units (DMU). The DMUs are maintained better and offer better service than the old trains. They are air conditioned and cleaner. There is also a camera in all the coaches, so that the pilots can see what is happening in there. Also, the DMUs stop at fewer stations and so save some time.
Inside a DMU coach. The DMU coaches run on diesel, and are (so far) better maintained than the old coaches.
The downside is that the fare for DMUs is N750 flat, and some people say it is unaffordable for them. Also, the DMUs share the same track with the old trains, so they are limited in their movement. However, officials say the NRC intends to build a rail-road for the DMUs.
Commuters say that getting people to use rail transportation will require affordable pricing, better service, and more reliable train operations by the NRC. They believe that this will bring more people to the railway stations and reduce the traffic load on roads.
In a city like Lagos where the roads are often congested and the population is dense, that development will be welcomed by many people.
As Adams says, “People are not easy to convince, and a lot of people are already used to road transport. So a switch to train use will not happen so easily. But when they hear that trains are better and people are now choosing them, then they will follow.”
Interesting piece. I agree that Lagos is in dire need of the train system. I also agree that the Nigerian rail system should be privatised. It baffles me how the country has no proper rail system.