The Abuja-Kaduna rail line has brought great relief to commuters on that route, but the good intention is being hampered by some factors threatening the comfort of regular travellers, writes MUHAMMAD SABIU.
THE Abuja to Kaduna rail line is a success story… well, apparently. The project was conceptualised by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and valued at the cost of $874m with the Exim Bank of China providing $500m, while the Federal Government provided the balance as its counterpart fund. Construction on the rail line started in February 2011 and was concluded in December 2014. It was not until in 2015 after the nine stations that make up the full complement of the project which were already at an advanced stage before the administration of Jonathan wound up the that the rail line was commissioned by the President Muhammad Buhari administration.
Indeed, the 186km rail track was a delight at inauguration. Perhaps, this was so due to the unrelenting cases of kidnapping on the Abuja /Kaduna highway which made travellers to consider using the services offered by the railway.
The new trains, like any standard gauge thrives on speed, and can operate at a speed of between 200km/h and 250km/h. Thus the travel time between Abuja and Kaduna could be reduced to one hour and each passenger train can accommodate up to 5,000 commuters. Sunday Tribune findings also revealed that the standard rail cargo train can carry up to 800 tonnes of goods and will take one and half hours to travel between the two cities.
The railway apart from providing a convenient alternative to passengers also has the added advantage of safety. The fear of the unknown, especially road carnage, constantly nursed by travellers on the Kaduna -Abuja road has been totally removed or in the worst possible scenario greatly reduced. The smoothness of passage and speed which the train has have also reduced the burden of passengers travelling by road, especially civil servants, and made commuting between the two cities a delightful experience.
A member of staff of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) who spoke with Sunday Tribune indeed confirmed that some of their regular passengers are indeed civil servants, who have found the railway a more convenient mode of transportation.
“We realised that there are many civil servants working in the federal capital, but they could not afford accommodation in Abuja and, therefore, live in Kaduna. Every weekend, they travel to Kaduna to see their families and loved ones,” one of the railway workers explained.
But in spite of the positive services the new standard gauge rail line are providing, some issues are threatening the sector. One of them is the issue of ticketing. It is recalled that two months ago, the Minister of Transport, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, piqued by series of complaints from commuters, decided to carry out an independent investigation on the allegation.
Arising from his investigations, the minister reportedly discovered some irregularity in the operation and decided to suspend some members of staff. It was expected that after this measure, the fraudulent act would stop but instead it kept recurring. Investigation by Sunday Tribune indeed revealed that the fraud in the ticketing operation is actually getting worse. Some staff members of the corporation have built a high wall of racketeering around ticket sale.
According to Mr Tesem Akende, who recently travelled from Kaduna to Abuja, “when we got to Kubwa, I saw different tickets flying around. Some of the tickets were numbered, while others did not have numbers. In Kaduna too, there is the issue of ticket hoarding. Officials of the railway corporation are hoarding these tickets. They will not sell the tickets until the highest bidders come.”
Akende, who commended the rail project, said it is a laudable policy that should not be allowed to go the Nigerian way, premature death, as a result of corruption.
Hajiya Halima Mohammed, also a regular traveller on the route, who corroborated Akende’s allegation of fraud and existence of a ticket racket, explained to Sunday Tribune that though the official rate of First Class ticket is N1,200, she purchased it at N1,600 for her trip to Abuja. Another passenger who pleaded for anonymity remarked that he paid for a ticket from Kubwa to Kaduna, but there was no seat for him throughout the one and a half hours journey.
“Honestly speaking, if I had known that I would be standing, I wouldn’t have bought the ticket. I could have travelled by road,” he lamented.
But how could the ticketing fraud be tackled? Some of those who spoke with Sunday Tribune suggested a more advanced ticketing operation by introducing online ticketing platform like the airlines. Akende stated that ticketing method should be reviewed to meet global standard.
Speaking further with Sunday Tribune, he said: “we need to work towards a computerised system. This will reduce the manipulation going on with the present ticketing system.”
For Miss Rose Sule, the fraud was made possible by inadequate coaches, which made the railway workers to be hoarding tickets and selling them exorbitantly. “The government should add more coaches to the existing ones, as this would dissuade those selling the tickets from committing fraud.”
However, Sule was sceptical of the punishment reportedly meted to them, advising that the culprits should not be protected in order to prevent other workers from joining the racket, Sule said names of the offenders and the punishment given to them should be made public. “I believe nothing was done to punish them (offenders). That is why the fraud has persisted,” she said.
However, the problem with the Kaduna-Kubwa rail line is not only about allegations of ticket fraud. Findings by the Sunday Tribune showed that some facilities like toilets in the train are not working. A commuter, who wouldn’t like to be named said “pressure is now being mounted on those toilets that are working. If nothing is done to fix the broken ones, these ones that are working will also break down. So, the management of the railway corporation should do something urgently to arrest the situation.”
Another passenger, Esther Moses, decried the gradual influx of almajiri boys in the parking area. “The moment you come to the station at Rigasa, you will see the almajiri boys running after you to take your luggage. The security shouldn’t have allowed them to come to the parking area,” she complained.
Attempts to speak with the NRC Kaduna station manager, Lawal Mohammed, over some of these allegations proved abortive while none of staff members of the railway corporation was willing to talk.
However, a staff who pleaded for anonymity denied the allegation of ticket hoarding, saying “we are even helping people to travel. We know the number of passengers that the train is supposed to carry, but the demand is too high. If we didn’t devise a means for people to travel, many of the passengers would be stranded.”
But it was not all complaints. Miss Sule, who confessed that she had never travelled by rail, recalled her excitement at doing so for the first time on the Abuja route.
“I love the experience. I got a first class ticket and I was given a number. When the train stopped at the terminal, we were asked to queue,” she said, adding that the security men at the terminal ensured that the queue was orderly, noting that the station and environment was clean.
“The sweepers and the cleaners are doing a marvellous job. When I entered the train, I was fascinated about everything. The seats were still good, there was television set, and the air conditioning was working perfectly,” she enthused.
“Everyone was well-seated and comfortable on his or her seat. The journey was serene and cool. There was no disturbance until I reached my destination. For the first time, I realised that things could be done right in this country,” she enthused.
For Halima Mohammed, mother of three, she was particular about the security at the terminal. However, she was surprised that her fears had no basis when she realised that the railway management had put in place measures to provide security for passengers.
“This is done in such a way that no one is allowed access to the terminal except one buys a ticket. Even on the station premises, only those who have come to pick passengers are allowed at the arena. This is a good development,” she enthused.
Making the rail line work, especially for his route, is very important in view of the fact that Kaduna is very strategic as it connects other states in the country. Many of the passengers said they would love to have a second rail line added to the Kaduna- Abuja route due to the increasing number of travellers who want to enjoy shorter travel time.