Train Commuters Demand Railway Reforms From Amaechi (PHOTOS)

Transportation minister Rotimi Amaechi was in Lagos last week to inspect the railroad and speak with officials as he gears up for the new year. Following his visit, train commuters in the city have challenged him to reform the railway system.

There’s only one railroad in Lagos that stretches from Apapa to Agbado and further to Ijoko in Ogun state. Trains that ply this road make multiple trips every day except Sundays.

Shadiya is a regular commuter. : “I live at Agbado and go to Yaba by train everyday to do business. I’ve been boarding the train for about three years now and I’ve got to say the trains need urgent attention. We want Amaechi to do something about it.”

Shadiya said she lives at Agbado and go to Yaba by train everyday to do business.

A lot of these commuters prefer to get around by train because it’s cheaper (a ticket costs N230 flat) and faster, considering how prevalent traffic jams are in Lagos.

Titilola, another commuter says: “I prefer to come home by train when I close at work because the roads are often jammed in the evening. If I take a bus, it’ll take me hours to get home, but if I take the train, I get home on an hour.”

Titilola said she prefers to go home by train when she closes from work because the roads are often jammed in the evening

Titilola says: “It’s not enough for Amaechi to come and check what’s going on here. We expect him to actually turn the system around and not just concentrate on roads and aviation. Rail transportation is the most neglected in this country, and that needs to change.”

But commuters say the train is very unreliable and poorly managed. It also gets very crowded inside the trains especially during rush hour and ventilation is poor. On this trip where our reporter is talking to commuters, he has to sit in the engine backroom alongside six other people because the coaches are all choked up. Like the rest of the train, the engine room is in a chronic state of disrepair.

There is only one functioning railroad, so two trains cannot pass through at the same time. One has to wait at a station for the other to pass.

Shehu is a commuter too. He said: “Sometimes a train derails on the way or there’s another train approaching from the opposite direction. So they’ll stop our train while they fix the derailed train or make way for the approaching one. Today for example, we left the Agbado train station at about 10am and we’ve had to stop for three hours because there’s just one railroad. A trip that should take one hour has now taken four.”

Shehu said sometimes a train derails on the way or there’s another train approaching from the opposite direction. so they’ll stop to make way for the approaching one

An official of the Nigeria Railway Cooporation (NRC) : “The problem we’re having is funding. Government needs to prioritise the rail system, and the new transport minister has a lot of work to do. We need new trains. We need more railroads. We need more funding so that we can improve our service. I believe if the trains are reliable, affordable and comfortable, more people will board trains — and this will decongest road traffic in this city.”

Meanwhile, the new administration had promised to revamp the country’s moribund railway system, and just recently the minister for transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, recently commissioned the train service that was completed by the previous government of Goodluck Jonathan.