NRC warns commuters against sitting on train roof as it resumes service

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) on Thursday cautioned commuters against unsafe conducts, especially riding on the roof of a moving train.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the corporation gave the caution at the resumption of its Lagos-Ogun mass transit service.

It suspended the service in September 2019 because of the ongoing construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Rail Line.

The NRC Lagos District Manager, Mr Jerry Oche, who gave the warning in an interview with NAN in Lagos, said that safety remained a primary concern of the corporation.

Oche noted that the corporation was aware that the available trains and coaches would not meet the demand of the teeming commuters, but said that commuters should be safety conscious.

He said: “I will advise that the first thing everybody should think of is safety as we commence operations.

“We have been away for a few months, but commuters should not risk their lives because they want to board this train.

“It is when you are alive that you think of moving around. If the train is filled up, do not sit on the roof because it is risky.

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“Train is still about the cheapest and the most convenient but life has no duplicate and nothing is comparable to live. If anybody climbs on top of coaches and anything happens to such, there is no hope again.”

According to Oche, when a train is filled up, commuters should look for an alternative rather than take risks.

Oche said that an intending passenger, who discovered after ticket purchase that the train had been filled, had the right to return the ticket for a refund.

The NRC boss, however, said that the corporation was working hard to increase frequency.

“The government of the day is interested; there will be more rolling stocks even on the narrow gauge. If you cannot join the train because it is filled up, look for another means,” the manager said.

NAN reports that Oche, who announced the resumption on Wednesday, had said that the operation, which resumed with one return trip daily from Kajola in Ogun to Iddo in Lagos, will involve a train of 14 coaches with 92 seats each.

The manager added that the train would leave Kajola in Ogun at 6:00 a.m. for Iddo in Lagos and would depart Lagos for Kajola at 5:30 p.m. daily.

According to him, he reason the corporation is doing only one trip includes the fact that it needs to do some trials on the tracks that have just been done.

He also noted that construction of standard gauge rail line was ongoing, adding that level crossing points were not fully ready.

The corporation had earlier informed its customers that the train service would resume on Nov. 15, 2019, but could not affect the resumption.

(NAN)