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Suddenly, there was a rush to the railway station when a locomotive announced its arrival, but to the disappointment of the people, it turned out to be the government’s newly acquired exotic train, known as Diesel Multipurpose Units (DMU), which was inaugurated at Iddo Terminus, Lagos, recently.
Saturday Tribune recalls that the Vice President of Nigeria, Namadi Sambo, had, amidst fanfare and pomp, launched the new engines, as the second half of the year was about to start.
All the people that had gathered at the railway station stared at the beautiful new train that had just arrived with measured admiration, but they quickly looked away, rather disinterestedly, as they got ready for the arrival of the type of train they apparently believed was meant for people of their class.
About 40 minutes later, another train which shared striking similarities with the previous one appeared, and it was given the same ‘treatment,’ while a growing sense impatience could be observed among the waiting passengers, some of which had now taken their seats at various spots, including pavements and even on the floor.
SourceA quick but closer look at the inside of this train revealed only a handful of men and women who were aboard its six air-conditioned wagons.
Finally, when the standard class mass transit train [MTT] arrived, there was a rush from the now excited crowd, to the extent that no single free seat was available anymore. Those who couldn’t get a space in the train (including those who deliberately wanted it so), later crammed on top of the train, as it progressed in its journey.
But when carefully studied, Saturday Tribune observed that the whole development might not be unconnected with the fares charged by the operators of both types of trains. With the fare fixed at N750, a marked difference of about N520, exists between the new DMU and the old MTT, which runs from Ijoko to Iddo/Apapa. To the commuters, this difference counts for something.
An observation made by Saturday Tribune seems to suggest that despite the state-of-the-art conveniences that come with the new trains, many commuters do not seem ready to part with N750, for what is considered “a journey of less than two hours.” This is because a cross section of train commuters who spoke with Saturday Tribune in various parts of Lagos revealed why they had deliberately kept the new DMU trains at arm’s length.
At the Iddo Terminus, a commuter who gave his name as Segun Olaoye, said the fares charged by the operators of the new train system were far above what he could afford, thus making him to come to the conclusion that the new DMU system was not meant for people like him.
“I have seen the new trains, and though I have not entered any of them, I am aware they are full of the comforts of life. But it is unthinkable for me to spend N750 as fare for a single leg of a journey. Travelling to and fro on the train means I would have to part with N1500 on a daily basis. If I try this, then that means I am ready to starve for the rest of the week. The new trains are great, but I don’t think they are meant for people like us,” he said.
Similarly, another commuter, this time, at Oshodi, remarked that if the N230 now charged by the management of the old system (it used to be N150 a few weeks ago) was still seen by some as being too expensive, then only a very handful of people would go for the services of the new trains. This is so because, according to him, most of those travelling in trains are low and middle-income earners.
“They had better reduced their fares from N750 to something that could be afforded by a lot of low and middle income earners, who constitute the lion’s share of those patronising train services in Lagos. I know they (the operators of the new train system) want to recoup their investments as quickly as possible, but they should know that this can only be done over time, with the right amount of fares and the right number of commuters,” said the passenger who claimed to be working for a facility management company on Lagos Island, but who lives at Alakuko area of the state.
“Why do you think hundreds of people, mostly young men, risk their lives everyday hanging on the roofs of moving trains? It is simply because a lot of them are trying to save cost,” asked another commuter, who also provided the answer to his question.
“Is it those who are finding it difficult to cough out N200 to have a seat in a train that would now bring out N750 to do the same thing? I won’t be deceived by the comforts which the new trains have to offer I will continue to travel in the old ones. My prayer is that the government would not be tempted to stop the old system, thereby forcing us to embrace the new ones, especially since both sets of trains ultimately belong to the government, “he said.
But another resident, who lives at Agbado and works in a media house in Apapa, Mr Anuoluwa Jimmy, expressed the notion that the new train system had made life and transportation easy for him. He pointed out that he was willing to part with as much as N1500 per day to enjoy the services provided by the new trains, as long as such services continue.
“I couldn’t travel in the old trains because they are always overcrowded, smelly and disorganised. Many of the seats are no longer good, not to even talk of the problem of those hanging and sitting on the roof of the trains. But the new trains offer me the rare privilege of travelling comfortably to my place of work and back home,” he said.
Jimmy’s view seemed to be corroborated by another resident and a perennial user of the rail system, Mrs Chikezie Maduka, who works in a new generation bank on the Island, but who lives at Fagba area of the state.
“Though I have been using the railway services for years, the coming of the DMUs has brought a lot of convenience that were once thought to be impossible. Yes, we now pay more, but we are happy because the service is worth the fare. In fact, more people that wouldn’t have ordinarily used the railway are now leaving their cars at home and joining the new trains to Lagos,” she stated.
Maduka and Jimmy’s views had earlier been emphasised by the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation, Mr Adeseyi Sijuwade, who had noted that the new railway vehicles were expected to increase the number of passengers moved by railway in Lagos from the current 16,000 to 22,000 daily.
Sijuwade maintained that the acquisition of the new trains was part of NRC’s plan to introduce “a new market” in the Nigerian railway system. He noted the trains were meant to reach passengers’ segmentation goals, while also noting that the new services were part of the corporation’s strategies to provide train services for mostly middle class passengers.
“Now we have bankers, accountants and all sorts of professionals using the new trains. You see people come into the train with laptops and several professional gadgets,” Sijuwade disclosed.
But clearly not satisfied with NRC’s approach in making an average Lagosian to embrace the new services, Coordinator of Lagos-based, Democracy Orientation Movement, Mr Akido Agenro, suggested that the best way out of the situation was for the NRC to detach a number of wagons from the DMU and have them attached to the MTT thus forming one train long enough to accommodate both the passengers who could afford the first class N750 fare along with the traditional standard mass transit train patrons.
“Better still, the NRC may as well phase out the old wagons which it has engaged for the MTT operations and have them replaced with the DMU. It can then introduce a new fare regime that is affordable to the common people in the spirit of genuine transformation. The common man in Nigeria also deserves a certain level of comfort after all,” he opined.
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