We are targeting electric trains in next 5yrs – NRC MD

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Dr. Kayode Opeifa in this interview with Daily Trust reveals long term plans to roll out electric trains and other salient issues in the railway sector.

The issue of racketeering is a major issue. How do you intend to address it as it affects NRC staff?

Okay, well, let me say that first we need to put into context what we mean by racketeering.

We don’t have up to 1% of racketeering going on anymore. It used to be an issue when we allowed anybody who chose a ticket to just go. Now you have to double check, as you do at the airport.

You check before you enter a complex, and when you put your ticket on a platform, it tells us who owns the ticket. If it doesn’t match your ticket, then you are not allowed.

Once it doesn’t match, that means it’s not a ticket. So that has caused a reduction. We call it third-party tickets.

That number of third-party incidents has reduced because what we see at the back end is that tickets are fully booked, so we feel comfortable. However, some of these tickets are third-party.

Somebody buys it for N3,500 and sells it for 5,000  to someone who is desperate. So we keep advising people: don’t buy a third-party ticket. However, if the experience of booking a ticket is not pleasant, people will pay extra money and get a ticket.

So what we have done is to put a double-layer screening, and it has reduced. And how do we know it has reduced? When we do double-screening, the number of people whose face matches their ticket is over 86%. I’m giving absolute figures.

That’s why I’m saying it’s no more than 1% of instances. However, also, there is another level of racketeering that goes on: collusion with insiders. That’s when it concerns us.

You hardly get that at Idu, because Idu is a station built for all purposes, while the one in Rigasa was an adopted station. So for us, what we need to do more is to educate people and make available more trade services.

Conclusively, it is also a matter of demand and supply. When people want to buy a ticket, it’s difficult to buy the ticket, because within 30 minutes of opening the door, the ticket is gone, and they are desperate to travel, they will pay if it is something they can afford.

Is it an issue of infrastructure?

One, the infrastructure encourages it, but because it’s not the barrier system, the access control system at Rigasa is not the best. But we don’t have it at Idu, we don’t have it in Lagos, we have it in Port Harcourt. We have it in Warri.

It is an access issue. And that is why we are going to start remodelling the Rigasa station.

You buy it. We use the double-check system to discourage it. At the aircraft, if I hold your ticket, they won’t let me.

When you have more people with that kind of ticket, it generates chaos. And we sometimes ask our managers to allow, if at least someone will pay for the ticket. But we want to keep advertising.

For regular users, we are doing a program now. If you find it sustainable, we will introduce it. We are regular users.

People who know and always use the train can be assured of the ticket. But the solution is to bring in more trains.

You talked about the NRC staff’s involvement. Were you able to arrest anyone?

It’s not an NRC staff involvement. These are economic leaders. These people are professionals.

Our staff may be involved. We can’t say they are not involved. But from our own investigation, it’s not our staff.

They are professional people who just want to profit from the demand-supply issues. And then also, those who are encouraging are those who use it. If you want to buy a ticket, and you tried, you can give us a call.

When will the Lagos-Kano express services come back on stream after suspension for quite some time now?

The Lagos-Kano-Maradi is scheduled for 2027. However, the Kaduna-Kano express is scheduled for completion this year. So you can see the two of them are ongoing.

And that’s by the Federal Ministry of Transportation. And I know the Minister at every opportunity speaks to this train service.

And when that is completed, we only have the Abuja segment to complete it. Nigerians will be able to travel from Abuja to Lagos, Abuja to Kano. And the people do business with neighboring countries, Niger.

And the people of the Niger Republic will be able to move their goods from the Lagos port to Niger Republic. Nigeria will become a mobility center for the landlocked Sahel countries.

Now, on the narrow gauge: the narrow gauge for now is faced with a lot of washouts and security-related issues.

Between Niger and Kaduna, there are security issues which the two state governments have vowed to manage. But more importantly, what is disturbing Lagos is not security—it is the washouts. There are so many parts of the track that are washed out, like in Mokwa, Tatabu, Ikimu, and also in Kaduna.

We are fixing that. As soon as we have the necessary resources to fix it, it will take us six months. But currently, we still run Lagos to Oshogbo for Salah.

What are you doing to address delays in train schedules?

Let me just say: our trains move at exact times, 99% of the time. So it’s not flight delay, but frustration.

If I’m in Kaduna, I have to wait till 2:30 p.m…that’s what people remember as a flight delay. But that is the time we have fixed. So we move exactly at 2:30 from Kaduna. We move exactly 8:45 a.m. The issue is this: after the bombing incidents on March 28, we lost a complete brake, which reduced the Kaduna rate from three to two.

Initially, we were running 10 to 12 trips. That reduced the trips to six. That means we can only run 12 trips on regular days and six trips on weekends.

Now, what we have is only one brake. After the August 26 Asham-Kaduna train incident came a reduction in capacity.

So what majority of our customers expect is that we will run from Kaduna. Unfortunately, it is more convenient, operationally and technically, to run from Abuja. We take responsibility, but it does not satisfy the majority of our customers.

However, it satisfies safety, security, operational, and technical considerations.

Running from Abuja also gives us full capacity. But a critical part of our customer base is based in Kaduna. They want to leave Kaduna in the morning and return to Abuja.

We are hoping very soon to increase it to three trips. After we’ve increased it to three trips, we can alternate: from Abuja twice, Kaduna once; then the next day, Kaduna twice, Abuja once.

We are also working hard to get the second train back on track. That is the medium term. The three trips is a short start, which should start any time now.

You also know we have time restrictions: the train cannot move after 6 p.m. As soon as we get out of these restrictions, we will start the three trips. Once we have three trips, we will focus on getting the second train.

It takes 12–15 months to get a train delivered. Also, we increased the timing of the trip from two hours 30 minutes to two hours 57 minutes, let’s say three hours. That is necessary because once there is a train accident, you introduce what you call temporary speed restriction (TSR).

We have never run two hours 30 minutes from Abuja to Kaduna until after the accident; now it is 2 hours 57 minutes or 3 hours. Very soon, those restrictions will be reduced, and the time will start getting shorter. Safety is the priority.

It is an international standard: after an accident, speed is reduced. Spain does it too, even with high-speed trains. It doesn’t mean the train cannot move fast; you first need to ensure track and equipment safety.

We apologize to the majority of our customers on the Abuja-Kaduna train service, especially those leaving Kaduna in the morning. Very soon, that opportunity will return, as we resolve technical and operational issues.

You mentioned a number of states that are partnering with Metro train services. Specifically, how many states currently?

Plateau State and Lagos State are fully operating the track access program. We are working with Zamfara now. We are also talking with Borno. We will start a service within Kaduna this year.

Others are in partnership using our corridor: Kaduna and Kano. You can use our infrastructure, bring your locomotives, rolling stocks, coaches, or whatever.

CCC Nigeria is using our infrastructure for freight, while Lagos Red Line is using the Lagos-Ibadan-Lagos-Kano route for passengers.

Do you think Nigeria is ready, especially in terms of infrastructure for high-speed trains?

It’s a matter of choice. For us, it has to be private sector driven. The ongoing discussion is private-sector based.

The little I know, it might be a reality in the shortest possible time. Discussions are progressing favorably. Very soon, more information will be provided by the Honorable Minister.

High-speed rail is desirable. Countries like America have yet to embrace it. Japan started it but has been surpassed by China. Spain is one of the leading countries but facing challenges.

We need sustainable standard-gauge lines; then high-speed trains will run. Our current tracks are standard gauge but cannot handle high speed safely. Once built and educated for speed trains, they can connect Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano in a few hours.

High-speed rail is private sector–driven; not with the Chinese government. Our partners are small: CLCC and CCECC for technical support.

You mentioned future plans of the NRC for the railway sector. Kindly highlight those plans?

We have a strategic vision in the next two, five and ten years. In the first two years, we want to stabilize and optimize current narrow and standard gauge locomotives, including coaches.

Subsequently, in the next five years, we want to start engaging in renewable energy, electricity or LNG. We will work with the Rural Electrification Agency for energy blocs along the corridor to power electric trains. This aligns with Nigeria’s 2060 climate change agenda.

Lastly, we want to double our current coverage. Currently, our rail lines cover about 4,000 km; building three lines per year can hit 10,000 km in ten years. High-speed rail will complement this.

Also, government projects (e.g., Lagos–Ibadan–Lokoja, Ajaokuta–Abuja, connecting seaports) will further expand our reach. We will focus on the freight revolution by rail as well.

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