The federal government says it is likely to increase the amount of scheduled trips on the Lagos-Ibadan train service to meet soaring demand.
Mu’azu Sambo, minister of transportation, made this known while speaking to journalists on Thursday after a courtesy visit to the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) headquarters in Lagos, leading to the inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan rail facility.
Sambo vowed to sustain the “trajectory” of President Muhammadu Buhari’s railway modernisation programme, noting that the progress made so far has been satisfactory.
However, the minister did not specifically provide details on the possible increase of daily trips.
In August, the NRC reduced the number of trips on the Lagos-Ibadan corridor owing to the hike in the price of automotive gas oil, better known as diesel.
The corporation currently runs two trips on the route – one in the morning and another in the afternoon.
“Yeah, we can have more trips, but you cannot have more than 24 hours in a day. Can you? So, you have to schedule these train services to cover a particular period of the day from morning until evening. That’s it,” Sambo said, responding to a question on increased patronage.
“I am highly impressed with the railway modernisation program of this administration. What we have seen is unprecedented. And we have vowed, my colleague and I, that within the short time that we have to spend as ministers, we will build on what we have found so that the trajectory will not be truncated in any way at all”