WARRI - ITAKPE TRAIN COMMENCES: PATRONAGE FAST BUILDING UP

Commercial passenger train service on the Warri - Itakpe Central Railway Line finally commenced operations yesterday Monday January 4, 2021.

Although patronage for the first day was low, the turn out today indicates that the train is going to be the reliable means of transportation along that axis for Abuja bound passengers. " This is a big New Year gift to us. No more suffering and long hours of looking for transport on the road, just to return to Abuja" An excited passenger chirped. 

"It is a very comfortable and stress free ride. At a point I thought I was in a plane'. A  user is quoted to have remarked.

Another humourous traveller commented: "This train na land aeroplane. Village people like me don enter plane too. Loi. The AC na fire, those of us (village filful) in the last coach had to beg them to reduce it, as we no carry blankets or sweaters"

A release by the Public Relations Department of Nigerian Railway Corporation states that the train will operate daily from Monday to Friday, departing from Udevwu Railway Station in Warri at 8 am for Itakpe, and commencing its return journey from Itakpe at 2pm with stops at Agbarho, Abraka, Agbor, Agenegbode, Ajaokuta, etc.

This blogger gathered that arrangements have been made with road transport operators who have  provided clean vehicles that are conveying passengers from Itakpe to Abaja at a cost of N1500 to N2000.

The release also disclosed that the train fare for the end to end trip of 312 kilometres,  that is,  Warri-Itakpe or the reverse direction is N2400. However, shorter journeys on the route attract lower costs. Though Engr. Sanni, the Warri -Itakpe Train Service Manager hinted RAILWAYMAN that the fare may be up for review next week. 

 It would be recalled that President Mohammadu Buhari inaugurated the Warri-Ajaokuta/Itakpe Standard Gauge Line last October, almost 34 years after construction work had begun. He remarked during the virtual commissioning that railways shall serve as the back bone for economic activities within that region and directed that the line be linked to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.



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