Train Ride Experience - Elijah Samuel

Gone are the days when train ride is meant only for the low income earners or for the less sophisticated. Now, for Lagosians, who do not want to be disturbed by gridlock which has become a common feature in Lagos, train ride has become a better option. Elijah Samuel captures the train ride experience

Luckily, the train ride comes in two categories- the economy and the first class. Although it is a public entity, it is offering services to the mass of commuting public. A first-time visitor who is security-minded would have expected to meet a screening measure to ascertain the purpose of visit. But the absence of such screening at the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Terminus at Iddo agitates the mind, especially in the contemporary times when security challenges are of great concern around the country.

Prospective passengers either strolled or hurried in and sat at the waiting area in the expansive reception hall. Many people were seen moving and loafing freely unchecked. At programmed intervals, as the bell jingled, the waiting passengers, especially those for the economy train ride, raced towards the ticketing bay to quickly obtain tickets and rush to the loading bay to secure convenient seats. In batches, they arrive and depart. But some of them recounted their experiences to New Telegraph on different occasions when an assessment cruise was embarked upon.

Experiences of passengers Economy class

But for the availability of train services of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Nurudeen Adelegan, a student cum teacher, who lives in Ogun State, would not have been able to achieve his dream of optimum academic advancement. For him, running a sandwich programme at the University of Lagos while living in Ijoko-Ota would have been a herculean task to cope with. “I have been using the train in the last three years when I gained admission.

I was encouraged by the availability of train services between my state of residence and the location of my institution of interest. There is no way I would have been able to cope because of accommodation and transportation costs, alongside academic expenses. But the kind of programme that I run is a yearly ritual that I would have had time to prepare for.

With the kind of transport opportunity which trains offer, I will endure the remaining part of the duration,” Adelegan said. Femi Layiwola is another student who is exploiting the inherent advantages of rail transportation.

“As an ND II student of Yaba College of Technology, I have been able to cope and adapt very well in my studies despite the distance of my home in Sango, Ogun State to Yaba-Lagos where my school is located. Because it is difficult to get accommodation on the campus, or afford the cost of accommodation around the vicinity, with my parents’ support I resolved to come from home when I discovered the convenience of using the train.

Although the second-class train that I use to board comes with its peculiar inconveniences, it is much more time-saving when compared to all the gridlocks encountered on the roads. For now, it is the best choice for me.”

For Chike Obielum, a businessman, boarding a train has offered succour and facilitated easy commuting between his house in Ope-Ilu, Ogun State and business location at Tejuosho-Yaba. “I was formerly living at Mushin when I bought a piece of land at Ope-Ilu and started developing it gradually.

But when my accommodation at Mushin was jerked up outrageously, I started looking for another accommodation. It later dawned on me that I would be wasting fortunes, considering the rent cost being demanded then.

I decided to put everything I had into my ongoing property development at Ope-Ilu; I was able to complete a two-bedroom section on the land. Today, I thank God for that decision. But I find it very convenient to move from my house at Alagbado to Yaba because of the train service. I have a car but it is of no use driving from that place to Lagos when I have an alternative.”

Views of the passengers about first class

David Adewusi, an engineer with a construction company on the Island, was a first-timer on a train ride. The need of having to promptly attend to a call from his sister-in-law who was then at the labour room in a hospital at Ijoko, had spurred him to embark on a train journey to Ijoko-Ota in order to seek the best way to handle the situation. Accosting this correspondent at the waiting area at about 4.15pm, he inquired to know how long it will take to get to Ijoko.

According to him, “I have to get to Ijoko as soon as possible because of my sister-in-law who is labour. After I received the call from her, one of my bosses in the office told me that the best and fastest way to get there is through the first class train ride.

I don’t mind paying the ticket fee as long as I will get there in good time and attend to their needs at the hospital. That’s why I’m taking the first class because I was told it doesn’t stop everywhere on the road, and that it is not usually loaded like the economy class” Kazeem Ayinla, a civil servant with state government, works on the Island. For five years when he packed into his own apartment in Ijoko-Ota, he has found a dependable means of shuttling between home and work.

“It is not easy living in Ogun and working in Lagos, but I thank God that I have been able to do this for about five years now. What makes it much easy for me is the train service- first class, which I use every day. It’s fast and doesn’t waste time.”

Albert Oshinkolu, a manager in a first generation bank at Ebute- Metta, relishes the peace and comfort which NRC train services have provided especially for those living in long distance far away from places of work.

“I’m a manager of one of these first generation banks in Ebute-Metta. By God’s grace, I moved into my own building in Sango-Ota last year. It’s not wise for me to quit job now, but I found solace in using train to and fro office. It doesn’t make sense driving my personal car.

I take the first class more, but sometimes I take economy. It is also good and safe.”

Comparative advantages

As it is presently, the Nigerian Railway Corporation runs the economy and first class (known as the diesel multiple unit). When New Telegraph undertook assessment rides on board the two classes, it was discovered that some parts of the two are begging for attention. Obviously, the deplorable condition inside the economy class doesn’t make it attractive to board.

Apart from the fact that the coaches were filled and running over with passengers, the fans and the light inside the coaches were not working. But this is not so in the first class train as the coaches were well illuminated and air conditioned. The only snag is the lack of toilet facilities. But this is provided in the economy.

However, the services the two classes offer have comparative advantages to patronizing members of the public.

“The advantage of the first class is that people are not usually packed in excess like they do in the economy class. You have a place to sit down, even if you can’t find a seat, you can decide to stand and you won’t be choked,” said Joyce Ukegbu, a banker in one of the banks on the Island. Another passenger, Uloegbu Daniel, a business man on the Island who has been traversing between Agbado in Ogun State and Lagos Island, and has most of his business relations in the metropolis said the peaceful ambience inside the first class train makes him love to use it often.

“Although I drive, but I target the arrival time from Agbado any time I want to use it in order to come to my business contacts. It’s always peaceful and relaxed inside this first class unlike the other one where people are packed in a suffocating manner. I think the corporation should do something about it, it is shameful.” To Azeez Eniola, it doesn’t matter whether one boards a first class or an economy class.

What is of utmost importance is to get to destination. According to him, “The type of train that one boards is not an issue; it is getting to the destination that matters. How many minutes do we stay inside the train before getting to our destination.” Quality of passengers However, irrespective of class or status, train service of NRC seems to have been programmed to capture all cadre of commuters, as they have been presented with offer to make choice if they consider boarding a train worthwhile.

As much as that choice seems simple, it has been observed that the train commuters are much more separated along their economic status and strength. For instance, most of the people who board the first class train come across as comfortable members of the public, far from their economy counterparts.

But irrespective of class, economic benefits and sense of boarding train is their unifying factor and common interest which they share. On this particular voyage, the political occurrences especially the news of latest political appointments made by the president created convivial ambience which made passengers offer their divergent views about how the country should be run, especially in the view of current effort to eradicate corruption in the country.

On the rail route

Along its travel route from Iddo in Lagos to Ijoko-Ota, there are many shanties which are built close to the rail line. In places like Oyingbo and Iju-Fagba, area of Lagos, the closeness of these structures and condemnable activities like scavenging leaves the rail line in deplorable environmental condition.

This is a situation detested by some well informed members of the public, even the passengers. One of the passengers on board had bemoaned this anomaly. “The Railway Corporation is not doing its work well. These structures are illegal; they shouldn’t have allowed them so close to the rail line. The train’s right of way should be emphasized.”

The passenger said. He explained further that as the train service clientele grows in leaps and bounds, it behoves the NRC to come up with proactive measures that will address service shortcomings, enhance the continual development of the transport sector and facilitate wider reach and affordability of the citizen.