By JONAH NWOKPOKU
Passengers of the Lagos-Kano intercity train service have lamented the constant delays and stoppages encountered during the course of journey, arising from technical hitches and faulty systems in the refurbished trains being used by Nigeria railways. This is contrary to claims by authorities of the NRC that it is undertaking a transformation of the nation’s rail line system.

The Lagos to Kano trip which is supposed to take thirty hours, culminated at thirty-nine hours as a result as the rail engine constantly broking down on the way and passengers have had to remain on board while it is changed. Passengers who have traveled on the rail recently decried the persistent technical challenges and said the hiccups have become a regular occurrence.

“This is what we have been seeing in train journeys. Last two weeks, a train derailed at Mokwa causing us to sleep at Jebba because we couldn’t pass while the derailed train was blocking the tracks.” Kolawale, a manufacturer who was traveling to Niger state, lamented when the train broke down at Agege, barely an hour after it departed Lagos.

Some first-time passengers also expressed disappointment with the situation and blamed the railway authority for poor maintenance. “This is my first and I blame myself for entering. Look at this railway people, they load people in thirteen coaches and then do not care about whether they are capable of getting them safely to their destinations. They didn’t conduct any checks on their engines, no checks at all and here we are.”
Yau who was headed to Kano to visit his brother regretted.
The engine broke down at Agege, Ibadan, Offa and Kaduna and in each of these places; more than two hours were spent to fix the problem.

Tijani, a student at Federal University of Technology at Minna blamed the hitches on lack of maintenance and technical know-how on the part of the train’s technical crew.

“There is high level of lack of maintenance. If they can maintain this thing very well, it would solve a huge transportation problem for us but I think the problem is from the management and lack of technically qualified personnel.

This one is not the Federal Government’s fault. All the delays and challenges we encountered are simply as a result of lack of technical know-how. They have no adequate knowledge about how this works. They need to upgrade their knowledge about it. How can a train leave Lagos by 12:00 pm yesterday and after twenty six hours, it is just gettingto Minna.” He said.

Tijani who maintained that he was having his last experience on the train suggested that the only solution is for NRC to retrain their technical staff.

“This is my first time and I cannot come back again. I am highly disappointed. The best thing is for NRC to organize a seminar to upgrade the technical know-how of the technical crew, anything apart from that I don’t know how this thing will be sustained. This one is not the problem of federal government.” He added.

However, one of the members of the technical crew who preferred anonymity said the locomotive engines have become old and they expect to do better when new engines arrive. “These engines have tried.

We are expecting new engines and when we get them, we shall havea better service.” He said.

The Nigeria Railway Corporation on the 21st of December, last year resumed intercity train service following government’s effort to rehabilitate the railway and reduce mass transportation difficulties but poor service delivery coupled with inadequate rolling stocks have been a huge challenge to this effort.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/03/railway-passengers-lament-undue-delays-technical-hitches/

It is natural to experience some hithes along the newly revived rail lines after decades of dilapidation. However, the NRC management, led by Engr Sijuade, should act fast and ameliorate these hitches. Otherwise, he too will be sacked.

Nonetheless, it seems other rail lines, bedsides Lagos-Kano, are doing much better

I hope and pray that General Electric (Brazil) will quickly build its locomotive assembly plant in Nigeria. That should help in reducing some of the problems encountered.

Fresh air indeed 39hrs.. I would have flown to Toronto and back to Heathrow 4 times before some dude travel from Lagos to Kano on a mangoparkistani train .... Soon they would say its Buhari that is vandalising the train

I must also add that delays are not unique to railways. Delays are also experienced on both air and road transportation.

Technical hitches, faulty systems, lack of technical expertise and old engines in just 3 months of operation, after having sunk billions of naira into rehabilitating the rail line system! Hallmark of Fresh Air!

@Sincere9gerian and damage limitation! I can't fit to laff! Put the blame on the opposition, after all, GEJ is working and haters are talking!

Sincere 9gerian: I must also add that delays are not unique to railways. Delays are also experienced on both air and road transportation.

Yes, they also park planes in Channels crossing, Paris, Port of Spain, Morocco and also over the Atlantic near Lagos to service the engines
GEJ is drunken..haters are

Omo_Tier1:
Yes, they also park planes in Channels crossing, Paris, Port of Spain, Morocco and also over the Atlantic near Lagos to service the engines
GEJ is drunken..haters are

Sincere 9gerian: I must also add that delays are not unique to railways. Delays are also experienced on both air and road transportation.

You are the greatest fool of all time. You a stink and despicable. Sorry i have forgotten your Master once told us terrorism is not a big deal-it happens everywhere.

take dat: Technical hitches, faulty systems, lack of technical expertise and old engines in just 3 months of operation, after having sunk billions of naira into rehabilitating the rail line system! Hallmark of Fresh Air!

@Sincere9gerian and damage limitation! I can't fit to laff! Put the blame on the opposition, after all, GEJ is working and haters are talking!

What is there to laugh about? That the trains are having technical hithes?

The trains move tens of thousands of people on a daily basis in Nigeria. If a few percentage of this numbers complains of poor services, it shouldn't take away the good services others have enjoyed.

Definitely, if you interview all those that traveled by air or road today, you'll still find a certain percentage that are not satisfied with the services they recieved.

However, the good news is that the NRC are bringing in more coaches and locomotives to tackle the concerns raised

solopumpy227:

You are the greatest fool of all time. You a stink and despicable. Sorry i have forgotten your Master once told us terrorism is not a big deal-it happens everywhere.

Everyone knows the above description fits you PERFECTLY. Congratulations for being able to describe yourself in such very words. Not very many persons can do that.

Omo_Tier1:
Yes, they also park planes in Channels crossing, Paris, Port of Spain, Morocco and also over the Atlantic near Lagos to service the engines
GEJ is drunken..haters are

You may want to tell oga Fashola, who has been in power for 6 SOLID years, that

"Four years after the Bus Rapid Transport, BRT, was launched in Lagos to ease the movement of people from one place to another, the laudable project is fast turning into nightmare as stories of pain and discomfort have continued to trail the services offered by the operators......Some of the buses (BRT buses) imported were substandard and fragile which made them suffer wear and tear easily. “after four years, we are beginning to see the the quality these buses are made off.....and most often than not, you see them (BRT buses) breaking down at the corridors and making it difficult for other buses to use the corridors at that point in time......The bus is not meant to carry more than 76 passengers at once in the form of 40 sitting and 36 standing; but because of the long queues, commuters are encouraged to packed themselves in a bus, thereby eroding the original idea of providing comfort, convenience and safety.
Most buses are seen carrying about 120 passengers from one destination to the other especially in the peak periods"
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/brt-buses-fast-turning-into-molues/

The summary of that report, in case you'r too emotionally unstable to read it, is that your oga's BRT is experiencing the same technical hitches after four years of operation and is fast turning to MOLUE. It appears that a system that ought to be getting better under a 'performer' is degenerating just 4yrs down the line. But as you can see, no be me talk am.

Sincere 9gerian:
What is there to laugh about? That the trains are having technical hithes?

The trains move tens of thousands of people on a daily basis in Nigeria. If a few percentage of this numbers complains of poor services, it shouldn't take away the good services others have enjoyed.

Definitely, if you interview all those that traveled by air or road today, you'll still find a certain percentage that are not satisfied with the services they received.

However, the good news is that the NRC are bringing in more coaches and locomotives to tackle the concerns raised

Forget it, there is nothing for you to spin here. You must assume we all are lean-witted and don't know how the modes of transportation operate efficiently elsewhere. This isn't the first time we are reading of passengers complaint and poor service delivery within the three months it took off. There is a thread on a Nairalander's experience from Ilorin to Lagos, and what he complained over is similar to this.
See also www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/poor-service-delivery-threatens-railway-rehabilitation/

Agreed we are to experience some teething problems, but it shouldn't be on "old engines, faulty systems and recurring technical hitches." Is this how to justify the billions of naira spent on its rehabilitation? The minister of transportation and others involved in the rail project needs to be probed! How can a train recently refurbished with taxpayers' money, break down in four different locations between Lagos to Kano? I suppose all na Fresh Putrified Air!

take dat: Forget it, there is nothing for you to spin here. You must assume we all are lean-witted and don't know how the modes of transportation operate efficiently elsewhere. This isn't the first time we are reading of passengers complaint and poor service delivery within the three months it took off. There is a thread on a Nairalander's experience from Ilorin to Lagos, and what he complained over is similar to this.
See also www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/poor-service-delivery-threatens-railway-rehabilitation/

Agreed we are to experience some teething problems, but it shouldn't be on "old engines, faulty systems and recurring technical hitches." Is this how to justify the billions of naira spent on its rehabilitation? The minister of transportation and others involved in the rail project needs to be probed! How can a train recently refurbished with taxpayers' money, break down in four different locations between Lagos to Kano? I suppose all na Fresh Air! be?

The contract was for the rehabilitation of the rail tracks. You should know the difference between the tracks, locomotives and coaches. The refurbishing of the coaches and locomotives is being done internally by the NRC. I'm aware they bought 25 BRAND NEW locomotives recently from General Electric but obviously thats not enough, making it inevitable that they have to still use old refurbished locomotives along some routes. The NRC is procuring more locomotives and coaches at the moment.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/port-harcourt-maiduguri-rail-line-will-be-on-track-this-year/136720/

I know that you guys will latch onto any and everything to score cheap political points but we should show some rationality at times. The Nigerian railway is just coming out from coma and even from the report above you'll see clearly that the management is battling to overcome the problem of congestion it currently faces and the complaints about poor services

Omo_Tier1: Fresh air indeed 39hrs.. I would have flown to Toronto and back to Heathrow 4 times before some dude travel from Lagos to Kano on a mangoparkistani train .... Soon they would say its Buhari that is vandalising the train

And you would have also transported 20trailer load of goods in the same time on the same flight...

Sincere 9gerian:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/brt-buses-fast-turning-into-molues/

The summary of that report, in case you'r too emotionally unstable to read it, is that your oga's BRT is experiencing the same technical hitches after four years of operation and is fast turning to MOLUE. It appears that a system that ought to be getting better under a 'performer' is degenerating just 4yrs down the line. But as you can see, no be me talk am.

You have sent the rabbit back into its hole! lol

These guys are too partisan. Everything to them is politics. Its just bad for our development. If the new problem is now technical hitches in our train system, then that is a good problem to have. It means we have made good progress. At least no one can claim the railways aint working again. So from here, we can put more pressure on government to improve and get it right.

One thing some ignorant folks don't know is that when you order train coaches, they are manufactured for you. They don't manufacture trains and store in warehouses like cars. So it will take time for these coaches to arrive.

This is one area I would expect Anamco to explore in the future.

Privatization is the only way to get efficiency in the railway system.

Sincere 9gerian:


I know that you guys will latch onto any and everything to score cheap political points but we should show some rationality at times. The Nigerian railway is just coming out from coma and even from the report above you'll see clearly that the management is battling to overcome the problem of congestion it currently faces and the complaints about poor services

Duh! So you are just realising that we all should be rational and non partisan in our approach? Hoping to see you do same when the tide turns! Government should address the lack of maintenance on infrastructure and rolling stock, and improve on service delivery. Anything worth doing, is worth doing right!

wait o na the old train spent 39 hours on the road or the fast train which we call thalys here? abeg oh na here be the thing wey them promised which one dem dey deliver again.

https://www.nairaland.com/1059240/fg-approves-n1.3bn-design-5#14713689

@Sincere Nigerian. Its commendable that you're giving a balanced view on the new Railway operations. About the B.R.T project, don't celebrate yet on it being a failure b'cos you hear about it in threads on NL but I'm a regular passanger on it. They are some bad ones amongst the buses but its a small number. Its far from being as bad as you're painting it.

Sincere 9gerian:
The contract was for the rehabilitation of the rail tracks. You should know the difference between the tracks, locomotives and coaches. The refurbishing of the coaches and locomotives is being done internally by the NRC. I'm aware they bought 25 BRAND NEW locomotives recently from General Electric but obviously thats not enough, making it inevitable that they have to still use old refurbished locomotives along some routes. The NRC is procuring more locomotives and coaches at the moment.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/port-harcourt-maiduguri-rail-line-will-be-on-track-this-year/136720/

I know that you guys will latch onto any and everything to score cheap political points but we should show some rationality at times. The Nigerian railway is just coming out from coma and even from the report above you'll see clearly that the management is battling to overcome the problem of congestion it currently faces and the complaints about poor services

Look at this disgruntled element! BRT scheme is one of the best things to have happened to Lagos. Lagosians today can travel in mass transit from A to B without spending 40hrs on a journey that should take less than 9hrs.

Shameless human being! Watch out when Lagos rolls out the trains, you would get to see what trains really should look like not the 1809 cans of wagon your drunken fisherman calls train..

thelastPope:

You have sent the rabbit back into its hole! lol

These guys are too partisan. Everything to them is politics. Its just bad for our development. If the new problem is now technical hitches in our train system, then that is a good problem to have. It means we have made good progress. At least no one can claim the railways aint working again. So from here, we can put more pressure on government to improve and get it right.

One thing some ignorant folks don't know is that when you order train coaches, they are manufactured for you. They don't manufacture trains and store in warehouses like cars. So it will take time for these coaches to arrive.

This is one area I would expect Anamco to explore in the future.

Have you traveled in a decent train all your life? I bet you have not, so I won't blame you for accepting mediocrity as a standard of living. With the billions spent on that rail line, is this what Nigerians ought to get in return?