The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr Kayode Opeifa, has assured Nigerians of his determination to actualise an enviable regime of service delivery, even as he flagged off a tour of the districts under the NRC in preparation for the Corporation’s upcoming developmental and revitalization initiatives.
He highlighted this at the Iddo Train Station, assuring train passengers, particularly the daily commuters from Ijoko and other border communities in Ogun State, to Iddo and Idumota axis of the Lagos Island, pointing out that the new management would revive the 2.00 pm Mass Transit Train Service (MTTS) in tandem with their request.
Two senior staffers, the District Manager, Engr Augustine Arisa and District Superintendent, Mrs Chidinma Mba, had earlier affirmed that the train services was directly impacting on the wellbeing of the Idumota market, especially the operations of the MTT line, as the market usually shrinks in patronage, any day the train fails to run.
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He expressed satisfaction that the MTT line was already so relevant and assured that he would leave no stone unturned to meet and exceed their expectations.
“NRC management being aware of the centrality of the MTT Kajola to Iddo rail line to the continued prosperity of the Iddo, Idumota and some other big markets in Lagos will not only continue to sustain the line, but work to add addition service after careful commercial market viability and sustainability studies”, Opeifa said, adding that, the transformation of the Iddo Terminal remains central to his management goals; hence the commitment to tangibly improve the terminal’s infrastructure, and boost its capacity to further justify passenger’s confidence and experience.
He maintained that he would not hesitate to bare his fangs and terminate the contract of any contractors found unwilling to go the extra mile to improve in service delivery.
Opeifa also directed the installation of solar panels around the station to improve the lightning condition and assured that a comprehensive review of all land leases around the station was underway.
He recalled the several historical monuments and railway relics and urged corporate organisations and individual philanthropists to support the corporation in the area of the provision of conveniences for train passengers as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.
At Ebute Metta, which was described as a hub to other districts, the NRC Boss visited the NRC Running Shed of the corporation.
He expressed satisfaction with the observed dedicated commitment of engineers, comprising men and women, particularly the women engineers and technicians, working in the corporation who were in healthy competition with their male counterparts towards ensuring that all the nation’s rolling assets were in enviable conditions.
At the Store, the Managing Director charged that management must embark on the painting of the Corporation’s several legacy buildings across the country, pledging to significantly improve its image as a logistics hub for service delivery and principal mobility provider in Nigeria.
Opeifa frowned on the activities of vandals after noting that there were no scraps in the railway, and reiterated his position that anyone caught vandalizing the rail materials across the country, would feel the full wrath of the law.
He promised that the management would restore to shape as many narrow gauge locomotives as were still serviceable and timely deploy them across the country to enable them serve passenger traffic anywhere it had existing train lines, just as the federal government aggressively continued to invest and expand the national standard gauge corridor.
At the Battery Room, as well as the Laboratory, an inspection of all the mechanical fluids, which was a crucial facility responsible for analyzing the quality and integrity of mechanical fluids used in NRC rail operations, was carried out.
He assured the laboratory workers that he would continue to support their growth and development, having himself trained and once worked as an Analytical chemist.
By the time he got to the Agege Station he was so informed he went into a brainstorming session via a closed door meeting with officials from the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), led by the Director Rail Services Engr Olasunkanmi Okusaga, on how to tackle security challenges between the two stations Babatunde Raji Fashola Station and the Lagos State Train Station at Agege Station.
The Railway Corporation Boss later had a guided tour of the Agege Station, led by the Station Manager, Mrs Ese Asowata, affording him the opportunity to go round to check the Station’s conveniences, the VIP Lounge, the Control Room, the Ticketing Lounge and the administrative sections, among several others.
Addressing all challenges, Opeifa maintained that under no circumstances should the ticketers not work to relieve passengers with disability access to the train.
Opeifa, while addressing the specifics of some train passengers, told one of them, Olatunde Apata, who had raised the issue of what could be done for any passenger who missed his train.
Apata, who said he was heading to the Prof. Wole Soyinka Station in Abeokuta, Ogun State, had missed his train because he went to pray.
He explained that efforts were in the pipeline to see how the issue of those missing their train would be addressed even as he disclosed that the NRC and LAMATA were working at how to ensure passengers could co-switch and access the metro train to continue their journey from the stations.
