The current fuel scarcity in the country has worsened the congestion and passengers hardship on the Ogun/Lagos Mass Transit Train Services (MTTS) of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
Prior to the scarcity, congestion in the trains was caused by the reduction in the number of coaches used to run the services.
The current fuel scarcity has forced road transport fares to go up which in turn has forced many people to board trains to their destinations. The situation has resulted in greater congestion as passenger carriage has doubled. This lack of readily available space has forced the return of another familiar sight in the city, the roof boarder.
Before now, some passengers hung on roofs before or after the Mushin train station to avoid arrest by the police; but with the current fuel crisis, the defiant now hang on to Mushin, daring arrest.
The Corporation uses four carriers to run 16 services a day from Ijoko in Ogun to Ido and Apapa in Lagos in the morning and back in the evening. Each carrier has between 12 to 14 coaches. Long distance services to Ilorin and Kano was set up by the Corporation about three years ago. However, it has reduced the coaches on its MTTS to support the long distance services, a situation that has led to passenger congestion in the trains.
For instance, before the long distance services were restored, the service from Ijoko to Apapa supported 14 coaches, all of which have been reduced to nine.
A top railway official who pleaded anonymity told NAN that plans are on going to increase the carrying capacity of coaches on the MTTS. The official added that the Corporation would not because of the congestion allow hanging on train roof, saying it would continue to arrest offenders.
Meanwhile, the ever teeming passengers of the MTTS have renewed their appeal to the Corporation to urgently address the congestion, warning of its dangers. Passengers have also appealed to the Corporation to re-open its Oshodi Station. The station was closed in 2007 after it was burnt during a clash between two rival groups of the National Union of Road Transport Workers.
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