Patronage drops on Lagos-Ibadan train route

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Nigeria - Passengers have begun to avoid the Lagos-Ibadan trains following the recent bombing of the Abuja-Kaduna passenger train by suspected terrorists. This is even as the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) attributed the slump in passenger turnout to poor marketing of its train services.

Speaking to Tribune Online in Lagos on Thursday, a civil servant who works in Lagos but shuttles Lagos to Ibadan via train every weekend explained that the Abuja-Kaduna passenger train bombing has forced him to go to Ibadan via road.

According to the civil servant who identified himself as Mr Anifowoshe Aliu, “This weekend, I won’t be going to Ibadan by train. My wife and kids have been begging me to come by road due to what is happening to train services in recent times.

“If terrorists can plant bombs on rail tracks without the train driver knowing before running over such bomb, then travelling by train is no longer safe in this country.

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“Even the government is helpless because the Minister of Transportation said that the technology that we need to detect bombs on our rail tracks before the trains will run over it is not yet procured. I have told my friend that we normally travel by train together that I won’t be meeting him at the train station because of the growing insecurity in the country, and he has confirmed to me that he too will be going by road to Ibadan.

“I cannot imagine a train I am inside getting bombed and some terrorists raining bullets on us while the train is derailed.”

When Nigerian Tribune got to the Mobolaji Johnson train station in Ebutte-Metta, some workers of the NRC confirmed that in recent days, the patronage has dropped.

However, our Correspondent couldn’t get figures on the drop in patronage of train services.

When contacted, the Deputy Director, Mechanical of the NRC, Engineer Jerry Oche attributed the slump to other factors rather than the bombing of the train.

In the words of Engineer Oche, “The drop in patronage on the Lagos-Ibadan train has been on for a while. I don’t think it’s down to the fact that the Abuja-Kaduna passenger train was bombed.

“We have been experiencing drop in numbers of passengers using the Lagos-Ibadan trains for a while now, and I think it’s down to poor publicity of the services that we render.

“I don’t think we are doing enough publicity, and that’s why the number of passengers patronising Lagos-Ibadan train services has been going down.”

When asked to furnish Tribune Online with figures of the drop in patronage, he declined.

It will be recalled that suspected terrorists recently bombed a passenger train that left Abuja for Kaduna late on Monday, leaving many dead and many injured while the number of unaccounted passengers is still being collated.

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