The Nigeria Railway Corporation has put plans together to operate 16 trips daily along the Lagos-Ibadan rail when it is fully operational.
Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria, said this to journalists during an inspection tour of ongoing railway projects along the standard gauge on Saturday.
He said, “When we start fully, we will have eight trains coming down and going up on a daily basis, making 16. We are hoping that within the next week, we will increase it to two up, two down and that time, we will be able to stop at Agege.
“We will be able to stop at Lagos, Agege, Abeokuta, and Ibadan. People will then be able to buy tickets at Agege. The passenger turnout is low but we are increasing it to two because people do not travel at the same time.
He added, “We usually run in the morning from Ibadan. Now, we will introduce one from Lagos in the morning and we will also introduce another leaving Lagos in the evening and add more stoppage stations.”
Okhiria explained that work had begun on e-ticketing for Lagos-Ibadan and should be expected in six-month time.
He said, “We are already working on it. What we did before was specific to Abuja-Kaduna. When we started that process, construction had not begun. The Lagos-Ibadan rail will not take that much time but within six months, we will be able to achieve that.”
The NRC boss said the corporation received nine freight locomotives and two shuttle locomotives, out of which two were taken to Itakpe-Warri because of the great prospect due to the AKK project.
He noted that the Itakpe-Warri line was doing well and would be boosted to service two return trips a day.
He also added that the rail service to ports had resumed, noting that 13 overhead bridges would be built within Lagos alone.
