NRC transported 538,978 passengers between January and March, says District Manager

The Lagos District of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said that it transported 538,978 passengers in the first quarter of 2017.

Mr Jerry Oche, the Lagos Railway District Manager (RDM) told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the transit covered January to March, 2017.

“We ran 16-passenger trains daily from Apapa -Iddo to Ijoko using the Diesel Multiple Units (DMU) and the Mass Transit Trains to achieve this,’’ Oche said.

The district manager said that during the period, 467,808 passengers were transported through the Mass Transit Train (MTT).

The DMU and Express trains moved about 63,185 and 7,985 passengers respectively within the period, he said.

According to him, the Lagos district is popular for its excursion- train rides, frequently, patronized  by schools, organisations and agencies.

Oche said that the corporation was planning to acquire more locomotives and wagons of different models to facilitate the business strategy that it wanted to explore.

The district manager also said that menace of roof-top riders had posed a serious threat to the smooth running of the train service within the Lagos district.

According to him, complete eradication of rooftop riding is required to boost passengers’ patronage and enhance the corporation’s reputation.

NAN reports that the Lagos District had introduced fine for offenders of roof-top riders to discourage those in the habit.

The district manager said that the fine was not meant to generate revenue but to discourage people from riding on the roof tops of moving train.

He said miscreants had formed the habits of riding on roof tops of moving trains; causing mayhem on innocent passengers and making train ride insecure.