The Nigeria Railway corporation made about 117 million Naira in July from at least 33,140 passengers who transited through the Lagos-Ibadan railway.
According to the Lagos District Manager, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Mr Jerry Oche, the corporation recorded 33,140 passenger traffic from the standard gauge railway in July.
Mr Oche, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria weekend, said the standard coaches recorded the most passengers.
He said, “In July, the total passenger traffic on board the standard class stood at 24,948, out of the 33,140 passenger traffic.
“For business class, we recorded 6,995 and for first class, we had 1,167, while the total passenger traffic recorded from Lagos to Ibadan in July stood at 33,140.”
Oche also noted that the increase in July was as a result of awareness and expansion of the railway gauges.
The average ticket for the Standard coach costs about N3000, while business class costs about N5000 and first-class costs N6000.
In July, the NRC claimed it made about N75 million from the standard category, and about N35 million from the business category and a total of N7million was made from the first class category bringing the total to about N117 million Naira. To analysts, this is an indication of the potentials that exist at the NRC.
While speaking on the train coaches, Oche said, “We are not using all the door coaches; we opened two doors, one for standard class and the second for business class and first class.
“Every ticket has a coach and seat number, and we also have officials who are on the ground to direct passengers. Passengers always sit according to their ticket numbers.”
He explained that the allowed luggage on board the standard gauge was 25kg per person, and that excess luggage attracted additional payment.
The district manager said that there are plans to partner with banks to enable passengers purchase their tickets online because currently, passengers buy tickets directly from the train station.
