The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says that it has commenced the construction of underground pass and overhead bridges at the 11-level crossings across Lagos State to avoid accidents.
This is coming some days after a tragic accident involving a passenger train and a Lagos State Government BRT staff bus at the PWD bus stop in the Ikeja area of the state.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), this was made known by the Managing Director of NRC, Mr. Fidet Okhiria, during an interview on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Lagos.
Okhiria said that the corporation has started the separation of the road from rail in Oyingbo and Ebute-Metta.
He said the corporation had constructed an underground pass and an overhead pass at the Agege level crossing.
11 flyovers at level crossings expected in Lagos
- The NRC boss said, “We are going to have 11 flyovers within Lagos and we cannot do all at the same time. We are constructing them in batches.
- “Before now, we constructed barriers and they were vandalised; we even constructed automatic barriers which were also vandalised.
- “Although we have been repairing them, especially the automatic barriers, they do not last for a week after such repairs.
- “It is either they hit the barriers with vehicles or people vandalise them overnight.’’
NRC to deploy technology to alert road users
Okhiria said that NRC management had planned to get gatemen to stop vehicles and avoid accidents while passing through the level crossings.
He said that NRC would deploy men and technology to alert road users whenever trains approached the level crossings.
Okhiria, who noted that people obeyed simple traffic regulations all over the world, however, accused Nigerian motorists of usually violating traffic signs.
He urged motorists to be more careful while passing through level crossings, reminding them that life had no duplicate.
For catch up
- Recall that on Thursday, March 9, 2023, a passenger train crushed a Lagos State Government BRT staff bus at the PWD bus stop in Ikeja with 6 people reported dead and about 85 others injured.
- According to reports, the bus was said to be coming from Agege and met the BRT bus with the Lagos State government workers on board crossing the rail line to link Ikeja GRA before the accident happened, dragging the bus from Shogunle to the PWD area.
- Meanwhile, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) have blamed the driver of a Lagos State Government staff bus for a fatal train accident.
- The Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, told journalists that the bus driver ignored signals from the NRC officials as he was in a hurry to cross the rail.
- Also, the NRC, in a statement by its Deputy Director Public Relations, Yakub Mahmood, said the bus failed to obey the instruction of the corporation officials as he overtook other vehicles waiting for the train to pass.