FG approves fare charges on Lagos-ibadan rail passenger services

The Federal Government has approved passengers’ charges on the new LagosIbadan rail standard gauge which will begin operations by January 2021.

Minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, made the disclosure during the inauguration of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIOTA) in Abuja on Friday.

The theme for the 2nd annual summit was “Building sustainable transport infrastructure in Nigeria: Opportunities, innovations and technologies”.

According to Amaechi, “I have received the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate the Lagos-ibadan rail project by January 2021 which will make Nigerians see the way the standard gauge railway looks like.

“Today I approved the charges on passengers from Lagos to Ibadan; we just transferred how we charged from Abuja to Kaduna.

“We charge N3,000 on economy seat, N5,000 for business class and N6,000 for first class, the same is applicable to Lagos to Ibadan’’.

The minister said there had been tremendous changes in most of the air terminals saying that the minister of aviation would inform the public of the completion of Lagos-kano terminal.

Amaechi promised that the ministry would collaborate with CIOTA to enable them achieve their objectives. He added that transportation was more than administration but without administration there would be no transportation.

Amaechi said CIOTA role was critical to the growth of transportation in Nigeria adding that the country had advanced a lot in the area of transportation.

CIOTA’S primary aim and objectives of the is to advance the study, training and practice of transport management and administration in Nigeria regardless of specialisation within the industry; and to set standards of practice and determines the knowledge and skills to be attained by persons seeking to become registered members of the Institute.