Train congestion: Commuters call for advance reservation

    
Commuters on Monday urged the Nigerian Railway Corporation to introduce booking for long distance trains to reduce congestion of ticket stands.

The passengers also appealed to the corporation to ensure that passengers’ luggage were checked in ahead of departure date.

The passengers spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria as they were waiting at the Ido Train Terminus in Lagos for trips to Ilorin and Kano.

The train to Ilorin was supposed to take off at 9.00a.m and the Kano train at noon.

The passengers, who arrived at the terminus at 8.00 a.m, had yet to purchase their tickets and had their luggage checked in.

Mallam Idris Abdulrahman, who intended to travel to Kano, told NAN that sale of tickets on the day of the travel caused delays and put much pressure on commuters.

He said that the delay at Ido would negatively affect the take off time at the other train stations such as Agege, Lagos and Ijoko in Ogun.

“Booking will enable the management to properly plan for us,” he said.

Abdulrahman told NAN that many passengers had lost their valuables or got injured while rushing to buy tickets.

Madam Alimotu Onigbanjo, who was waiting for a train to Ilorin, appealed to the corporation to introduce advance reservation without delay.

“The NRC management knows how things obtain in the advanced world; why can’t we adopt the same system here?

“That is why you hardly see the elite joining train’’ Onigbanjo said.

A student, Mr Sunday Okoroafor, who was to travel to Kano to resume studies, said that the NRC should begin online booking.

“The world is advancing daily; advance ticketing will remove stress from both passengers and the corporation’s workers,’’ Okoroafor said.

A top official of the corporation, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that the corporation was facing logistics problems.

“You don’t give what you don’t have; we scramble for coaches to run both local and long distance services,’’ the official said.

He told NAN that the NRC had been using one rail track since 2009 because of the dilapidation of the other track – from Ido to Ijoko.