Abuja-Kaduna train passengers suffer 1 hour delay
Passengers on the KadunaAbuja train service yesterday suffered about 1 hour delay following a mechanical fault that affected one of the newly procured locomotives.
Daily Trust reports that most of the passengers on the early morning train were workers rushing back to resume at the capital city after weekend break.
The train scheduled to takeoff from the Rigasa station in Kaduna at about 7am did not commence the journey until by 7:45 am.
The delay also affected intersection arrangement between the train and another train travelling to Kaduna. The Abuja bound train spent another 15 minutes at the Rijana station waiting for the train moving to Kaduna.
Officials of the Nigeria Railway Corporation announced via public address system that “The train has developed a mechanical fault that will soon be fixed. Please bear with us.”
Some passengers complained over the delay, with many of them expressing dissatisfaction with the situation. A passenger, who identified himself as Sani, said “I left my house very early this morning to observe Subhi prayer at the station, but look at it now I am going to get to the office late. The train is supposed to leave by 6:40 but this is after 7am and we are still here.”
Another passenger said he shunned breakfast to catch up with the early morning train saying “My wife had set the table for me, but I refused. I am not happy that after all the effort to get here early, I am going to be late for work.”
The train got to its final destination at Idu station at about 10am, an hour behind schedule.
The Idu train operations manager, Mr Victor Adamu, said the new loco didn’t suffer any technical hitch.
He told our correspondent on the phone that, when the driver turned on the knob, the loco went off because it is very sensitive. “Apparently the driver turned on the wrong knob.
“Immediately the guy turned the knob, the locos went off; they had to go back to the computer to start tracing the issue. They had to make sure to rectify the issue and that took a bit of time. It was just a breach of procedure and not a mechanical fault” he said.
He also said the announcement in the train that the train had developed a mechanical fault was made in error adding that he warned the staff, who made the grave error against such mistakes in future, as they would attract proper sanctions.