The Nigerian Railway Corporation has disclosed that from next week, the long-awaited electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) on the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge will kick off.
This announcement was made by the Managing Director of the Corporation, Fidet Okhiria on Tuesday while fielding questions at the Television Continental (TVC) on Tuesday.
The Corporation boss revealed that the final testing of the ticketing platform will be accomplished today, Wednesday, to ensure all glitches are sorted out before the public can use it.
Okhiria said that with the e-ticketing system, passengers will not have to be present at train stations before they can obtain tickets. He said, that with any internet-enabled device, passengers will be able to buy their tickets at least 48 hours before their proposed departure date.
He mentioned that the e-ticketing system will be in use in the Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan, and Itakpe- Warri rail lines.
- “The e-ticketing is the way to go, it is the way to secure our money and our investments because as you buy your tickets it goes to the government coffers directly. We have it in Abuja-Kaduna, and we are also going to have it at Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warri. By the end of the month, our passengers should start using it,” he said.
Increase in train speed on the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge
Okhiria also disclosed the intention of the Nigerian Railway Corporation to increase train speed from 40km/hr to 80km/hr on the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Guage.
He stated that since the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge began operating in 2021, it ran at 40km/hr, which was a far cry from the 150km/hr that the track was originally designed for.
He warned against trading on the track, adding that recurring announcements would be made at various train stations in Lagos to ensure the populace is adequately sensitized to the increased train speed.
In his words,
- “We are going to be increasing our speed, especially within Lagos. I’m also using this opportunity to tell our brothers and sisters playing on the tracks to stop it. Right now we are doing 40 kilometers, we are going to be moving to 80 kilometers because the tracks are designed for 150 but we won’t mind going gradually to 120km per hour, especially within Lagos.
- “People should be aware of that and those who cross the tracks should be aware of that and they should obey the level crossing lights and obey our signalmen. We have gone out to start making public announcements already at Oshodi, Yaba, Mushin at Agege, telling them that the speed of the train is going to go up as we cannot continue to shortchange ourselves if the train is designed to run at 150km people should avoid the permanent way, it is not a place trade.”
Laudable idea to increase the sped and go e-ticketing.
Hiw do you prevent tickket touts from buying up the space on line for sale, at the dying minute at raised price to genuine travellers?
Welldone for a good job.
To prevent bulk purchases, online platforms can restrict the number of tickets that can be bought per customer. This can be enforced by requiring users to register using identification numbers, like NIN, and allowing only one delivery per customer
Tinubu is working
Apc for life