Despite the rise in operational expenses driven partly by a hike in diesel increase, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has said there are no plans to increase fares on the route it currently operates.
District Manager for Lagos, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Augustine Arisa said increasing fares is a process.
Arisa, who acknowledged the rising cost of diesel and its effect on everyone, said the corporation has been managing the situation of diesel increase.
Speaking on the incident that happened on 10th March 2022 over a stopover of the train service from Ibadan to Lagos, he said the incident was not because of diesel but was due to a technical hitch.
He said: “Meanwhile, we are running and have been running. We have not increased our fares despite the cost of diesel.”
Speaking on whether the district is still running three shifts on the Lagos-Ibadan route, he said: “No. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were doing three trips before but we now reduced it to two trips. This is because of the passenger flow and the cost of diesel. The cost of diesel is affecting all. What we are using to run the train is diesel. So, we had to go down on the passenger traffic between Lagos and Ibadan. It is now 8 am and 4 pm. Except on Saturdays; we have 6 pm and 9 am.”
