Train operations can’t commence until interstate travel ban is lifted —NRC

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said on Monday train operations nationwide could not commence until the ban on interstate travel was lifted by the Federal Government.

The NRC Director of Operations, Mr. Niyi Alli, disclosed this to journalists in Lagos.

The federal government had on April 28 banned interstate travels in a bid to check the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

He said: “We cannot commence operations of Mass Transit Train Service (MTTS) until interstate travel ban is lifted by the Federal Government.”

Alli said the NRC was working out new acceptable guidelines of operation in order to help contain the spread of the virus.

”We are working out modalities on how to operate because the train is the largest means of transportation in commuting people from one state to another.

“Although the Corporation has lost so much financially but the safety of our customers remain paramount.

READ ALSO: Lagos mass transit trains won’t resume despite relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown —NRC

“We have been receiving calls, messages from our esteemed customers to commence operations but we cannot flout the federal government law on interstate travel ban.

“The federal government is our employer, we have to work with them to contain the spread of this pandemic ravaging the world,” the NRC official added.

He told journalists the Lagos to Kano train service runs through many states while Abuja runs to Kaduna and vice versa; Lagos to Ojoko also goes from lddo to Ijoko in Ogun.

Alli added that the Eid-el-Fitri celebration is one of the peak periods of the Mass Transit Train Service but the lockdown has kept business still.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now