TheNewsGuru

Tag: NRC

  • Excitement as Warri-Itakpe train service resumes operations

    Excitement as Warri-Itakpe train service resumes operations

    There was excitement at the Ujevwu Station of the Warri-Itakpe Train Service (WITS) as normal operations resume along the route on Monday.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports operations ceased after a train plying the route derailed in January, resulting in damage to the tracks.

    “The service hereby informs the general public that Operation Schedule are as follows;
    Departure time is 8am from Warri while Departure time from Itakpe is 2pm,” a statement by the service reads.

    About 148 passengers and 38 crew members escaped death in the derailment incident of January. Many passengers reportedly abandoned the train for fear of being kidnapped.

    The Station Manager, Helma Sani, disclosed operations were resuming along the route last week. He said, “We are resuming operation on Monday 24/4/2023”.

  • BREAKING: Warri-Itakpe Train Service to resume operation Monday

    BREAKING: Warri-Itakpe Train Service to resume operation Monday

    The Warri-Itakpe Train Service (WITS), hitherto grounded after a derailment, will resume operation from Monday 24 April 2023.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) recalls the only train operating the WITS route derailed at km 30 Ajaokuta-Itakpe section of the track in January.

    While there were no  fatality nor casualty as a result of the derailment, since the incident, daily activities at the WITS route have been grounded.

    The Station Manager, Helma Sani, who confirmed resumption of activities on the route, said: “We are resuming operations on Monday 24th of April 2023”.

    Sani disclosed that resumption of activities along the route followed repair works carried out on the affected tracks. He also disclosed that locomotives operating the route were serviced; hence, the delay in resumption.

    Meanwhile, the Station Manager was silent if on-line train ticketing system has been deployed for the WITS route.

    The board and management of NRC had disclosed the on-line train ticketing system would soon be deployed for the route.

    The disclosure was made through the Deputy Director, Public Relations of NRC, Malam Mahmood Yakubu.

    “We are bracing up to deploy the on-line train ticketing system on LITS and WITS routes soon, with far reaching arrangement being concluded for hitch-free deployment of the technology,” Yakubu had earlier said.

    However, on the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS), passengers have been enjoying the on-line electronic train ticketing system seamlessly, for quite some time now.

  • FG orders probe into cause of Lagos train-bus crash, as NRC, LASEMA react

    FG orders probe into cause of Lagos train-bus crash, as NRC, LASEMA react

    The Federal Government has ordered probe into the cause of Thursday’s Lagos train-bus crash that occurred at PWD area of the state, killing six people and injured 96.

    This was as the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) have blamed the driver of the Lagos State Government staff bus for the fatal train accident.

    Tragedy struck in Lagos a few minutes before 8am on Thursday when a passenger train collided with a fully-loaded staff bus belonging to the Lagos State Government at the PWD rail crossing, off the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

    Giving reasons for the deadly crash, the Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, told journalists that the bus driver ignored signals from the NRC officials as he was in a hurry to cross the rail.

    Also, the NRC, in a statement by its Deputy Director Public Relations, Yakub Mahmood, said the bus failed to obey the instruction of the corporation officials as he overtook other vehicles waiting for the train to pass.

    TheNewsGuru.com(TNG) reports that the Federal Government has ordered an investigation into the accident.

    The ill-fated bus with registration no 04A- 48LA was navigating its way to connect the Government Residential Area, Ikeja en route to the state secretariat, Alausa, when it collided with the train at the PWD rail crossing.

    FG orders probe into cause of Lagos train-bus crash: NRC, LASEMA react

    The bus was said to be coming from Isolo while the train was heading to Ido from Ijoko, Ogun State.

    According to eyewitnesses, the train dragged the bus on its rail for about 100 metres from PWD to Sogunle before getting stuck.

    Some panic-stricken passengers of the bus, especially those close to the exit doors, reportedly made frantic efforts to jump off the bus being dragged by the train.

    By the time the train and the bus finally stopped on the rail, the bus passengers fell upon one another in their attempts to find their way out of the trapped vehicle.

    Two passengers were said to have died on the spot while others sustained various degrees of injuries.

    Rescue workers who were mobilised to the scene evacuated the victims and rushed them to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

    Nigeria Railway Corporation reacts

    The Chief Mechanical Engineer and Lagos District Manager, Nigeria Railway Corporation, Augustine Arisa, confirmed that the train pushed the bus for about 100 metres before stopping.

    This, according to him, is because of the high speed of the train.

    Arisa disclosed this in an interview with one of our correspondents at the scene of the accident.

    He noted that at 7.50 am, he received a distress call from one of the drivers of the NRC, alerting him of a train-bus accident at the Shogunle Level Crossing.

    Arisa said, “At 7.50 am, we got a distress call from our driver that there has been an accident at the Shogunle Level Crossing.

    “On further interaction, we found out that the level-crossing keeper was there. The LCK is the man with the red and yellow flags at all times at the level crossing.

    “If he gives you the red flag, you are to stop. If he gives you the yellow flag, you are to move with caution. If he gives the yellow flag to the train driver, that means he has asked the train driver to start coming.

    “With that, the train driver has the confidence that the rail is clear for him to drive through. This simply means all buses should wait and not move till the yellow flag is given to them. With that, the train driver has the confidence that the rail is clear for him to drive through.”

    FG orders probe into cause of Lagos train-bus crash: NRC, LASEMA react

    Arisa, narrating how the accident occurred, said the BRT driver veered off from where other buses were waiting and entered the track, ignoring the red flag by the level crossing keeper.

    “Before the train driver could stop, he had already hit the vehicle and pushed it to a distance of about 100 metres before finally stopping. This is because the train cannot stop immediately,” he added.

    He further emphasized that no one should be on the rail track for whatever reason.

    According to him, anyone seen on the rail track is an intruder and has no business being there.

    He added, “I need to emphasise this and drum it to the ears of people that a moving train cannot stop immediately.

    “So, no one has the right to stay on the track. You don’t have any business being on the track. For you being on the track, you are an intruder.

    “If anyone dies on the track, your family members will have to pay a railway fine before retrieving your corpse, because no one is supposed to be there in the first place. When the flag bearers tell you to stop, please, stop.”

    On his part, Oke-Osanyintolu said the accident was caused by reckless driving on the part of the bus driver.

    “Investigation gathered revealed that the immediate cause of the incident was due to reckless driving on the part of the bus driver while trying to beat the train traffic signal before the moving train rammed into the bus,” he added.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) gathered that rescuers started taking victims to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja at 8.30am.

    The Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, said the teaching hospital admitted 102 victims of the crash.

    Fabamwo, who described the experience as overwhelming, said the hospital received 85 victims at once.

    He revealed that the health facility embarked on open space treatment also known as triage, which he said is the world’s best practice in emergencies.

    He said triage was the best option because the hospital’s emergency unit only has 30-bed spaces and that some other patients were already occupying some of the beds before the crash victims were brought in.

    Fabamwo said, “I got a call very early in the morning about the mass causalities, by the time I got to the hospital, I saw that 85 causalities had been brought to us.

    “They were on their way to work and the accident happened around 7.30am, and our emergency unit is just a 30-bed unit, imagine if they brought in 85 victims and don’t forget our bed cannot be lying fallow, they will always be occupied.

    “So, we had to do what is done internationally, international best practice, and that is called open triage which means you put all the victims on the ground, in a spacious space, luckily, we have a helipad which is spacious.

  • Updates: All we know about Lagos train/bus collision – NRC MD

    Updates: All we know about Lagos train/bus collision – NRC MD

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, on Thursday narrated the little his organization knows about the the train/bus collision in Lagos.

    Recall the NRC train was involved in an accident with a Lagos State Government staff bus on the rail track in Sogunle area of Lagos.

    Two bodies have so far been recovered from the scene, while 4 died out of the 84 injured, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.

    Okhiria said: “According to the information I gathered at the scene of the incident, they said many cars stopped when they got to the level crossing while the Lagos State Staff Bus driver continued moving, which I don’t know why.

    ”Maybe the driver thought he could pass before the train got nearer to him. He could not pass, then the train crushed the bus; that is what we gathered.
    “The train was coming from Ijoko to Iddo”.

    He urged Lagos drivers to be more careful when passing through the level crossing, to avoid train accidents.

    The Managing Director, who was concerned about the lives of the Lagos State staff, appealed to motorists to consider the level crossing at all times.

    Okhiria said that when motorists get to the level crossing, they should not ignore the point where they should stop.

    The Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Taofiq, Adebayo, had said in a statement that a Lagos State Government staff bus was crushed by a moving train at PWD, Ikeja.

    Adebayo said that the staff bus was with registration no 04A- 48LA, and the enforcement officers of LASTMA were the first emergency responders at the scene of the accident.

    He disclosed they had called other emergency responders to join in the rescue.

    According to him, the accident recorded some casualties as the staff bus was fully loaded with govt staff going to office in the morning.

  • Just In: NRC suspends rail services, sets date for resumption

    Just In: NRC suspends rail services, sets date for resumption

    The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) announced in Lagos on Tuesday that rail services would be suspended from Saturday, Feb. 25 to Monday, Feb. 27.

    NRC’s spokesman, Mr Mahmood Yakubu, stated that the suspension was to enable Nigerians to exercise their franchise at the presidential and National Assembly elections of Feb. 25.

    Train services to be put on hold are Abuja-Kaduna, Warri- Itakpe, Lagos-Ibadan, and Iddo, Lagos-Ijoko interstate mass transit service.

    Yakubu stated that normal train services would resume from Tuesday, Feb. 28.

  • BREAKING: Abuja-Kaduna train services resume

    BREAKING: Abuja-Kaduna train services resume

    Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has announced the resumption of services along the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor after the suspension due to derailment on Friday.

    The corporation’s Director of Operations, Mr Niyi Alli, in a statement said the services would commence on Jan. 31.

    “The Board and Management of Nigerian Railway Corporation are pleased to announce the recommencement of the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service.

    “The service was suspended on Jan. 27, due to the derailment that occurred at Kubwa Station on the same date.

    “Subsequently, the service will resume on Jan. 31, with the following daily schedule – KA2 departs Rigasa at 0700; AK1 departs Idu at 10.00; KA4 departs Rigasa at 13.00; AK3 departs Idu at 16.00.

    “However on Wednesdays only KA2 will depart Rigasa at 0700 and  AK 3 will depart Idu at 16.00,” Alli said.

    The director expressed regret on any inconvenience the corporation’s esteemed passengers might have experienced as a result of the temporary suspension of the service.

    He however expressed Federal Government’s commitment to provide safe and better services to the public.

  • BREAKING: NRC suspends Abuja-Kaduna Train Service

    BREAKING: NRC suspends Abuja-Kaduna Train Service

    The Nigerian Railway Corporation(NRC) has suspended train services along the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor due to the derailment of the train at Kubwa, Abuja on Friday.

    The Director of Operations of NRC, Mr Niyi Alli, who regretted the derailment, apologised to passengers whose trips were cancelled due to the incident on Friday.

    “The Board and Management of NRC regret to inform the general public, particularly our passengers of AK3 and KA4 of today Jan. 27, that the disruption experienced on our Abuja-Kaduna Train Service was as a result of the derailment of KA4 at Kubwa station.

    “There was no casualty recorded. We sincerely apologise to passengers whose planned trips were affected by this incident.

    “The NRC rescue team has been mobilised to the site to re-rail the rolling stock and repair the track. Consequently, the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service is temporarily suspended.

    “While assuring early recommencement of the service, all inconveniences to our esteemed passengers are highly regretted,” Alli stated.

    The director further expressed the commitment of the management to ensure the introduction of additional operational measures nationwide to ensure safe train operations.

    Recall that the train service along the corridor resumed operations on December 5, after being suspended for over eight months due to an attack on the tracks and passengers on March 28, 2022.

    The attack led to the death of eight people with several people injured and over 60 kidnapped.

  • JUST IN: 5 days after Warri-Itakpe incident, NRC train derails again [Photos]

    JUST IN: 5 days after Warri-Itakpe incident, NRC train derails again [Photos]

    Barely five days after a Warri-Itakpe Train Service (WITS) locomotive derailed at Ajaokuta, Kogi State, another locomotive of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has derailed again.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) locomotive derailed on Friday evening close to Kubwa Train Station in Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT).

    The cause of the derailment is yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report. However, it has been confirmed that all passengers on board the locomotive are safe.

    The travel, it was gathered, was travelling from Kaduna State, headed for the Idu Train Station in the FCT when it derailed at Kubwa.

    This is coming barely five days ago when a similar derailment took place along the Warri-Itakpe route adjudged to be the most lucrative route.

    See photos below:

     

    Details shortly…

  • NRC explains reason for train delay on Abuja-Kaduna route

    NRC explains reason for train delay on Abuja-Kaduna route

    The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), has apologised to passengers for the delay in rendering train services to passengers along the Abuja-Kaduna train route on Monday.

    Mr Pascal Nnorli, Manager, Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS), in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Monday, said the delay was due to a shortage in the supply of diesel.

    “The management of the NRC sincerely apologises to our esteemed customers who may have experienced delay in our Abuja-Kaduna train service on Monday, Jan. 23.

    “The delay was caused by the supply of diesel/AGO, which fell short of the specification required to operate our rolling stock, which was out rightly rejected after statutory laboratory test.

    “The compulsory laboratory test is carried out on all liquid that is used on the rolling stock, locomotives inclusive to ensure that the right specifications are utilised,’’ Nnorli said.

    The manager thanked its passengers for continued patronage and pledged the commitment of the corporation for better services going forward.

  • UPDATE: NRC suspends Warri-Itakpe train service

    UPDATE: NRC suspends Warri-Itakpe train service

    The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has suspended service along the Warri-Itakpe Train Service (WITS) corridor.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Coordinator of the WITS, Mr Sanni Abdulganiyu made the disclosure following the derailment of a train operating the route.

    The WITS train derailed at km 30 Ajaokuta-Itakpe section of the track at about  12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

    “Thankfully there were no fatalities nor casualties as a result of the derailment,” Mr Abdulganiyu said.

    The Coordinator stated that the corporation was immediately alerted and security personnel were immediately drafted to the accident scene.

    ”The personnel comprised the Army, Police, NSCDC, and the community vigilante with the assistance of the local government chairman.

    ”All the 148 passengers and 30 crew members were evacuated to a safe place and arrangements were made to convey the passengers to their various destinations.

    ”And the passengers have been successfully conveyed,” he said.

    On the cause of the derailment, the coordinator said it was yet to be determined.

    Abdulganiyu said due to the incident, the service along the corridor had been suspended and further details would be communicated to members of the public.

    According to him, repair and operation will resume as soon as possible.

    Meanwhile, the Kogi Police Command on Sunday confirmed that all the passengers of the train that derailed in Kogi forest have been safely evacuated.

    The state Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Akeem Yusuf, made this known in a telephone interview in Lokoja.

    The I’ll fated train plying the Warri-Itakpe route unfortunately derailed in Kogi forest between Ajaokuta and Itakpe towns, forcing the passengers to be stranded.

    It was said to had left Warri early morning of Sunday but got derailed at around 12 p.m inside the forest, a situation which reportedly instilled fear in the passengers.

    But Yusuf said: “When we got the distress call, I immediately dispatch a team of rescue team that rushed to the forest to give them cover.

    “We didn’t take the report with laxity but ensured that the passengers and the train crew got the desired security cover.

    “Our plans were to ensure no criminal element take advantage of the situation to do anything funny and God helping us nothing funny happened.

    “I can boldly tell you that all the passengers have been evacuated to safety without any cause for alarm,” he said.

    Yusuf said that what was left at the scene was the wagons of the train, but all the passengers were made to proceed with their journey without any hindrance.

    The police boss commended his officers and men that successfully conducted the rescue operations alongside other security operatives in the state.