NRC unfolds plan to accommodate more passengers

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Lagos District, has said that it plans to accommodate more passengers.

The Lagos District Manager, Mr Jerry Oche, who said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday, also warned roof top riders.

‘’We have increased our capacity. We are also looking for a way of using existing rolling stocks in such a way that we work on turnaround time where we improve on whatever we have done in the past.

‘’The corporation wants to increase freight- both passengers and cattle. Our average passenger’s freight is 10, 000 per day.

‘’We want to do more than that and that is why we are working on those coaches and added seven additional ones to increase the capacity to 12, 000 passengers and above.

“We are hoping for the best service in the year,’’ he told NAN.

Oche, however, said the corporation would continue to take necessary action against roof top riders.

According to him, no passenger has any reason to ride on the roof top of a train.

He said the miscreants had formed the habit of attacking innocent passengers and made train ride insecure.

Oche said that in spite of many arrests of the miscreants on November 2016, they still prevented many passengers from riding on the train.

He said the corporation would visit the Lagos State House of Assembly to enact a law criminalising roof top train riders.

NAN reports that 36 persons were charged to court on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 out of 105 arrested roof top riders.