The Abuja-Kaduna train ride has solved some problems but the upward review of its fares has created fresh worries for passengers.
When it was launched in 2016, passengers heaved a sigh of relief. The road trip was fraught with dangers. Armed robbers and kidnappers were on the prowl. Crashes were also frequent. But when President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Abuja-Kaduna railway, those worries were swept away, in addition to the fact that the train ride was quite affordable as the President had promised.
The tale has, however, changed with the review of the fares. Barely two weeks ago, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) reviewed the fares and introduced charges for luggage and parcels, a move which has been greeted with mixed reactions.
The Nation went to the train stations in Abuja to observe passenger’s reaction to the new fare. Making her way to one of the stations, a lady passenger who looked worried asked if there was an ATM or a bank around the station. Further chat with her revealed that she only had the old fare.
The new fare which is contained in a notice signed by the management of Nigerian Railway Corporation, reads: “This is to inform the general public and our esteemed passengers that the management of Nigerian Railway Corporation has approved the a new fare regime for passengers and parcel service with effect from Thursday, February 1, 2018.
“Express service for adult ticket charges Idu/Kubwa-Rigasa and vice versa are; Executive class; N3000 and standard class is N1500 while for shuttle service; the executive class is N2500 while the standard class is N1300.”
For luggage or parcel rates, the notice indicated that a rate of N7.5 would be applied on passenger’s luggage and parcel. It also noted that flat rate applies for all seats in the executive class coaches while minor and special needs tickets have been abolished.
The old fare for executive was N1500 while standard was N1050.
To some passengers, the corporation is unreasonable with the increment, while others for the sake of safety said they don’t mind the new fare.
Some others complained about payment for luggage, arguing that there is no way they would travel without luggage.
To Mrs Helen Olayioye who appears to be in her 60s, the new fare is fair compared to road transport. She said: “I just paid N1300 and I feel it is okay because the commercial car from Mabushi motor park is N2000. For safety sake, I prefer it because drivers of the commercial cars or buses speed a lot. I also don’t mind the fare because it brings back old memories.”
One of the passengers travelling in VIP class, Ibrahim Bello said government should put the poor masses into consideration before making decisions.
According to him: “I have been going on the train since it was introduced in 2016 and the reason why I go on train is because I am scared of kidnappers. The purpose of this train was to decongest the population of Abuja and make life easy for those who cannot afford to pay rent. The commencement of the train service meant that one can stay in Kaduna and work in Abuja but with this increase, it would be difficult for someone residing in Kaduna to cope except for the rich and fortunate ones.
Let’s do the calculation, one comes to work on economy class which is N1500 because it is express and goes back with express too because the first and last train according to them is express while the two that run around 9am and 2pm are shuttle. So let’s do the calculation, a worker spends N3000 daily on transport fare and that is minus the okada or bus he takes to his place of work. How much is his salary that he would spend that amount daily? For a civil servant that works in Abuja and resides in Kaduna, in truth, they are not considerate with the fare and they know that.
Bello further said: “If NRC is complaining about maintenance, let’s talk about how much they generate from passengers; let’s assume they make a million, do you know there are lots of agencies in this country that do not generate a naira and federal government pay them salary and overhead through the revenue and other sources of income. What is the source of revenue of police for instance and how is government funding them? Personally, I am not happy with this, though I can afford it but when you look at some of the passengers, you will know that they only ride on the train because it is comfortable.”
A National Youth Service Corps member, Otito Eze simply said: “The service is good but the truth is, the cost is high.”
Also reacting to the increment, Salimah Nuhu, a journalist with Radio Nigeria, who seemed angry with the new fare said: “Who will say he is okay? I am not okay with it and I am sure most people are not okay too because it is supposed to be for the common man to enjoy. The fare especially the first class is on the high side. We heard that some people called for the increment and they are even thinking of making it N5000. This government is not considerate at all. They tend to give attention to the high and mighty before the common man which is not supposed to be. If you want to enjoy first class on the day you want travel, you can decide to buy all the seats on a first class coach instead of calling for a general review of the fare”, she said in high tone.
To Kabiru Musa of Dangote Group Company explained that if one considers safety, then one would understand why the fare is what it is.
“If you go by road, you would understand that the fare is reasonable because if you go by road, there are no securities and one is prone to kidnapping and accident.”
On Alhaji Tafida’s part, the price is fine. “The only issue I have is that they should make it possible for passengers to buy tickets online and they should make ticket available all the time instead of making passengers line up when it’s 30 minutes to take off time and make it look like we are on Assembly ground.
Reacting to the complaints, an official at the train station in Idu said they presently run at a loss.
According to him: “The cost of maintenance is high. We have nine stations and only a station consumes 300 litres of diesel per day and most station operate on generating set because of the epileptic power supply. As it stands, we are even running at a loss but because it is government-owned, we still try to subsidise the price. Going by road in Zuba Park is N1500 and most times, passengers are sandwiched in the car. So I really feel the fare is reasonable.
On the payment for luggage, he said: “We only charge for luggage above 50kg because we know that there is no way passengers will not travel without travel bags or other items. The idea of luggage is to encourage people to travel with luggage no matter the weight which was not the usual practice. We are only trying to encourage them to come with their luggage irrespective of the size because we have van to convey them to their destination. Even if you go to some Motor parks, if your luggage is in excess, they charge you and in our case, we charge N7.5 per kilogram.
On whether the patronage has dropped since the new fare, he said: “Despite the increment, we have noticed moderate passenger’s turnout which has in a way brought sanity to our operation because we used to allow people stand before but since we reviewed the fare, we have not witnessed people standing.”
