Railway corporation cuts passenger trips frequency on Lagos-Ibadan route

BY MIKE OCHONMA 

 

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has reduced the trips frequency of its passenger train services on Lagos-Ibadan route due to the hike in the price of automotive gas oil, better known as diesel.

The corporation has cut down the number of return trips on the route from six to two every day, Fidet Okhiria, NRC managing director, said.

The move, Business A.M. learnt, would hamper the sector’s revenue drive. Rail transport raked in N6 billion in 2021.

“We are now doing two return trips as against six, which by now should have gone to 10. So, we run just two trips now due to the diesel problem,” Okhira said.

The NRC boss said it was outside the corporation’s powers to hike fares, despite the rising cost of operations. He, however, stated that the corporation had sent recommendations to the Federal Ministry of Transportation for an adjustment in the train fare.

“We just can’t increase it by ourselves. The government has to do that. We have made some recommendations. But even with that, the new price of diesel has overshot our workings as contained in the recommendations,” Okhiria said.

“However, we don’t want to price ourselves out of the market too, because the price of petrol is not increasing as such, rather the increase is little when compared to diesel price. And you know we are competing with transporters on roads,” he said.