The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has announced its plans to initiate a mass transit express passenger train service connecting Apapa in Lagos to Kajola in Ogun State. This service is set to operate on the standard gauge railway, marking a significant development in the region’s transportation infrastructure.
According to thenationonlineng.net, this comes on the heels of Federal Government’s palliative measures to cushion the effect of the petroleum subsidy removal.
The NRC currently runs a 157-kilometre-long shuttle between Lagos and Ibadan on the standard gauge.
The Apapa-Kajola route, according to the corporation’s Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Mahmud Yakub, is the first inter-state mass transit shuttle of the NRC.
It will provide a more comfortable relief to passengers on the Mass Transit Train Service (MTTS), which the corporation currently runs on the narrow gauge.
Quoting NRC’s Director of Operation, Akin Osinowo, the corporation’s spokesman said the service is code-named Apapa Express.
Osinowo, who announced the new route on behalf of NRC Managing Director Fidet Okhiria, explained that the stopping stations for the new train service would be Mobolaji Johnson, Agege, Agbado, and Kajola, where passengers could board or disembark from the train.
The director of operation said the train service would reduce the hardship experienced by commuters, especially those plying the Apapa to Kajola route.
He urged passengers to always obtain their tickets at designated stations before boarding the train.
Also, the Lagos-Ibadan railway has conveyed over 1.33 million passengers in the last two years, The Nation has learnt.
A document by the media section of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria showed that the project has also created about 5,000 jobs each year in the local community and indirectly supported the employment of at least 20,000 individuals.
