Yes, The Trains Are Back By Bayo Adeyinka

I also took some time to talk to the elderly woman right behind me on the queue. She told me she was on her way to Ilorin and she rides the train regularly. 'It's so convenient for me', she said in Yoruba. Without any further prodding, she told me about how she was able to carry more load with less hassles as a trader unlike if she went by road. I wondered how many of such women not captured by the statistics of our formal sector who are actually the true beneficiaries of a re-engineered railway.

I bought my ticket and we moved towards the platforms. It was at that point that I asked if what I paid for was the express train. Initially, I was disappointed when I was told that the express train would leave by 12 noon and it was the regular train that departs by 9am. The fare was still the same. 

It would have helped if there was a proper signage or information bulletin showing arrival and departure times and the particular trains according to their schedules. I couldn't bear to wait for another 3 hours just to board the express train so I adjusted my mind. But what are the differences between the regular yellow trains and the newer, green express trains? Obviously, the frequent traveller Local Government staff has boarded the express trains a few times since they were commissioned in June and she threw some light on the differences.

The yellow trains are refurbished coaches and most of them came back into operation over the last 2 years. The express trains are brand new and were commissioned this year. The first class coaches of both types are air conditioned. The refurbished yellow train also has several fans in the first class coach. The express train has additional provision for 'sleepers', where beds are provided for passengers in a single cabin arrangement including a private bathroom. But the 'sleepers' must be booked two weeks in advance due to the demand. While the regular trains have stopovers at every major train station along their route, the express train stops at fewer stations located only in major cities. The import is that the express train is faster.

I set out very early last Friday and got to Iddo Terminus of the Nigerian Railway Corporation in Lagos at 8.10am. Getting to the 'arrival hall' I saw most of the seats were already taken. Seated must have been nothing less than 70 people. I approached the counter where I saw close to another 20 people on a queue. After making enquiries, I was informed they had not started selling tickets but I should listen for the ringing of the bell.

THE BEGINNING
As I made my way back to my driver outside, I went over the events of the previous day in my mind. I had been involved in a debate about the state of the rail sector in Nigeria and I decided to visit to see things for myself. I had been taken round the train station by a wonderful young staff of the NRC and we were accompanied by a security guard. It was that visit that spurred me on and I decided to experience things for myself. I had taken on what seemed like a challenge via social media and I knew it was time to walk my talk.

I asked my driver to leave the station and head to Ibadan once it was 9am. The train was also meant to depart by 9am. I smiled as I saw the look of bewilderment on my driver's face. He must have been thinking I was crazy or something like that. I went back to the hall and I saw tickets were already being sold. But why ring a bell to sell tickets? Whatever happened to the use of a public address system? To my left were a group of men numbering about 10 dressed in green uniform. One of them approached me and asked if I had any load. I asked what his job was and he said he's one of those who assist passengers to offload their cargoes on the train. I initially thought they were touts. You can't blame me for thinking this way as touts are found usually in such areas. Before I got here, I even thought that touts would be involved in selling the tickets. But there was no such thing. Everyone stayed on the queue and the lady at the ticket counter was very courteous and attentive.

REGULAR (YELLOW) TRAIN OR EXPRESS TRAIN?
I saw two ladies chatting away and as I eavesdropped on their conversation, I overheard one telling the other that it was going to be her first time on a train. 'It's also my first time', I said as I jumped into their conversation. The other lady said she couldn't even count the number of times she's taken the train in the last 6 months. 'I always take the train anytime I'm going to Ibadan', she said. She is a staff of a Local Government while the other JJC works for a popular brand advertisement company in Lagos. I asked her for the train fare and she said the regular class which she always takes is N320. I almost passed out. N320 to go to Ibadan? But I didn't want the economy or regular class. I wanted to experience the First Class Coach service. She told me the First Class ticket is N800 but she had never been on the first class coach before. I offered to upgrade them so we could sit in the same coach- they gladly agreed. I know Ibadan by road was at least N1,500 or thereabout. If you were to also use your own car, you will require to buy fuel of nothing less than N5,000.

THE FIRST CLASS COACH

As we walked along the platform on our way to board the train, I observed as the green-uniformed staff loaded cargoes into the train. The cargoes include axles of vehicles, plastic bottles, groundnut and others. A particular coach was dedicated to cargo. The train I boarded had 15 coaches. We located the first class coach and climbed the stairs. The coach had a collection of about 40 twin-seats arranged on two rows and separated by an aisle. A red carpet, neat but very worn with use, lined the aisle. It was meant to offer passengers a red carpet welcome but the rug could do with a change. The seats were very neat but the whole cabin had an antique feel. All the seats were numbered just like you would find on an aircraft. Seats 1&2 were reserved for our armed escorts. Yes- armed escorts. The first class coach had armed escorts on board. I located my seat and put my bag on the luggage compartment above my seat. It was at that moment that I saw a row of about 15 fans attached to the upper part of the coach. 

There was very good leg room between the seats and the seats were already in a reclined position. I stood up and looked for the bathroom. That was one place I wanted to see. There were 2 bathrooms on the first class coach. Both were very neat and there was no odour at all. However, they looked dated in spite of their neatness. In my opinion, they should be exhumed and a more befitting toilet should be fitted. The toilet was a minus for me.

We were 19 on the first class coach. As the train honked signaling it was about to move, the engines roared into life. Several colored lights came up in our coach. I guess the lights were designed for night travels so that the coach would be illuminated. At the same time, the fans came alive- all 15 of them. I looked at a space in front on what looked like a box. The staff who took me on a tour the day before told me a TV is always on a first class coach. So I had expected to see one there. It was later I realized that if a TV was there, no one would probably have watched it. The man seated behind me stated that there is always a TV on that box as he rides the train to Ilorin every weekend. You could also charge your phone or ipad with just N50 on board.

As the train started departing the Iddo Terminus Station, I noticed the air condition was not on. I turned to the man seated behind me and asked him if there was no air conditioning in the first class coach. 'Of course, there is. I still took this train last weekend and there was air condition', he stated. So why was it any different on this journey? Departure time was 9.15am- not bad by Nigerian standards for a train that should leave by 9am. It was my first ride on a Nigerian train.

THE JOURNEY

I brought two books with me on the trip- 'Kill or get killed' by Kola Oyeyemi and a short biography of Benjamin Franklin. I wanted to read those books to fill my time on the train. Eventually, I got to read only one page of 'Kill or get killed' throughout the journey.

 I flipped out my ipad and started clicking away as I took some pictures. Suddenly, a man in light blue Ankara dress shouted at me to stop taking pictures. 'It's not allowed', he said. I asked him why and he kept shouting that it's not allowed by management. I got up to him and told him I'm a Nigerian citizen and a tax-payer. I also told him the train runs on my tax. Since the train was public property, he could not tell me not to take pictures. We had a serious altercation which became a shouting match and at a point, I asked him to produce any order restraining passengers from taking pictures. After the first few words, all the passengers on board weighed in with all of them shouting at the interloper. A woman even said she heard they take pictures on the aircraft, so why can't I take pictures on a common train? As if on cue, almost everyone took out their phones and started taking pictures. A few minutes later, the busy body interloper was nowhere to be found.

By this time, all of us had gotten chummy on board. We got to Mushin at 9.30am. We arrived at Oshodi at 9.40am. The lady who works for the Local Government was our coach 'conductor' together with the man seated behind me. Both of them kept us informed and engaged. They regaled us with stories of their previous train rides. A particular elderly couple sat in the middle role. Declaring it was their first attempt to ride a train in Nigeria, they said they were elated they could do so. It was later during the course of a conversation we had that I knew the couple were frequent travellers who had lived abroad before. 

At 9.45am, we were at Ikeja. By this time, a checker dressed in a striped, green Tee shirt with NRC logo went round checking the tickets. As he checked, he punched a hole in the ticket. You are supposed to keep your ticket till you get to your final destination and you must also produce the ticket before you will be allowed to leave your final destination point.

The man who sat behind me told me that last time he took a train was 1986 and not until last year when he heard the trains are back. Ever since, he's been taking the train to Ilorin every weekend. A fellow seated with his wife in front of me (later identified as a China returnee) also praised recent developments.

We had the first stopover at Agege Station. Time was 9.50am. People disembarked and a few boarded. About 15 minutes later, we left Agege Station. Less than 2 minutes after, the train stopped again. We peered through the window to see what the issue was as we were at an intersection. We learnt another train was approaching.

At 10.25am, we arrived at Ijoko in Ogun State. The train had to stopover here also.

At 10.40am, we departed Ijoko for Kajola and at 10.50am we arrived at Kajola.

 I stopped one of the staff on board and asked him why the AC was not put on. He explained that the 'power can' needs to be changed as the one on board was for MTT- the intra city service. He gave me a lecture on power can and how if the fans and light were put on, the AC cannot work simultaneously and I nodded as if I understood-powercan 19, 22 and others. I asked if this was the situation on others and he said no. Others work perfectly according to him. I guess this calls the maintenance to question.

 

I took a nap. 

The train stopped over at Itori at 11:15am. Obviously, we had left Ifo behind while I took a nap. I saw there was plenty of sugarcane at Itori. Some passengers disembarked to buy sugarcane at this station. By the time we got to Itori, the number of passengers had increased to 30. 

WAPCO LAFARGE & DANGOTE COACHES

I saw WAPCO Lafarge coaches transporting cement by rail. Obviously, our train stopped at Itori to allow the WAPCO LAFARGE train to pass. I also saw the about 6 coaches with the insignia of Dangote carrying Dangote cement. I took a few pictures. So it is actually true that rail is being patronized by WAPCO and Dangote? I started to imagine how the roads have been saved from the activities of trailers carrying cement and the attendant carnage that usually results from the frequent accidents involving them. 

EARLY MOMO STOMACH KLINIC

The train has a coach dedicated to stomach infrastructure. The coach is situated next to the First Class coach and most varieties of food are sold on board. One can get Amala, eba, fufu, poundo yam, rice and other Nigerian dishes on board. There is also a bar with loud music blaring out of speakers. You can place your order at the restaurant and you will have it delivered to you at the First Class Coach. A young boy also carries around  a few drinks-asking for whoever wishes to buy- periodically.

WHOEVER SAID JONATHAN DIDN'T DO ANYTHING MUST BE BLIND

If you ever needed a good conversationalist, look no further than the middle-aged man that sat behind me. Full of humour and a very loud voice, he regaled us with story after story. As the NRC staffers on board passed him, they greeted him indicating that he must have been truly using the train for some time. So I decided to steer our conversation towards politics. 'Some people are saying Jonathan didn't do anything', I said. With fury that shocked me, he retorted that they must be blind. He now launched into a tirade and said if all our previous leaders had done quite a bit like him, Nigeria will not be where it is today. Another elderly woman with a black head scarf on her head also weighed into the conversation. She told me she frequently boards the intra-city train within Lagos from Ebutte Meta to Alagbado. She also said the intra-city trains were now 16 in number. A young man who joined at Itori asked us to imagine if there was a rail corridor in Ikorodu and the attendant effect on traffic in that area. I told him that this was more like a locomotive and we needed to have underground and bullet trains like the developed world. The 'Ilorin' man retorted, 'A child has to learn how to walk before he can run'. 

We stopped over at Abeokuta Station at 12.10pm. It was the last stop before we got to Ibadan. I observed that there was a huge mound of refuse beside Abeokuta Station.

GETTING TO IBADAN

As we trudged away from Abeokuta, I observed there were other lesser stations along the route but they were no longer habitable- mostly overgrown with weeds. Some of the train stations could also do with some facelift. I also noticed that the bush along the rail track were overgrown around Abeokuta axis. 

We took in the various beautiful scene ties as people clicked away. From huge rocks to a colourful vegetation, from streams to a huge river which even flowed under the rail track, the sights and sounds were memorable. The only regret we had was that the windows could not go lower as they were designed for air conditioning. So we actually had to either sit on the arms of the seats to take in the sights as we peered out of the windows.

At a point, about 7 kids sauntered into our coach. 'Were they on excursion?', I wondered. It would be nice if schools can arrange for short trips with the NRC. I'm sure they will love it. 

We crossed River Ogun at 12.40pm. We got to Omi Adio on the outskirts of Ibadan at 1.30pm. As we entered Ibadan, I could see the rusty roofs of buildings at Odo-Ona Elewe, then Ring Road, Alalubosa and finally Dugbe. Time was 1.50pm. My driver was waiting at the Dugbe Train Station. He got to Ibadan at 12.20pm. As we disembarked and as I waved bye to the man going to Ilorin, I observed it seemed only the Ibadan Station had a public address system. Someone was on the PAS, speaking in a guttural voice and asking people not to defecate anyhow or anywhere but to ask for where the toilet was. 

We had spent a little over 4 hours. The train stopped 5 times, spending an average of 15 minutes at each stop. I recall I've spent 7 hours on the Lagos-Ibadan express before. If I had taken the express train, it would have stopped only at Ijoko and Abeokuta, thereby reducing the time drastically. The rail tracks were still the colonial ones wherein the rail passed through major towns of the Western Region. That explains why one had to get to Abeokuta before getting to Ibadan. 

IT CAN ONLY GET BETTER

Since the trains are back, what can be done to improve on the services? I think there should be dedicated train services to major destinations on that route. For example, there should be the Ibadan train that will not stopover anywhere until it gets to Ibadan. That will call for more investments in that sector. 

Tickets should also be available online. I should be able to purchase a train ticket from the comfort of my home. 

The Iddo Terminus should be re-modeled. It's still looking like a colonial relic though it has a fresh coat of paint and is very neat. But I guess with a bit of cladding and some suspended ceilings here and plaster of Paris there, a new edifice will emerge.

Maintenance is key so that the right service levels will be maintained. The air conditioning cannot work today and be down tomorrow.

There should be a Marshall plan not exceeding 5 years to introduce high-speed trains.

So will I take the train again and was I happy with my overall experience? Yes, I will take the train again and I was happy with my overall experience. I know this is not the best compared to some developed nations and even considering our pedigree as the biggest economy in Africa. However, I could see progress has been made and the journey to restoration has begun. Yes, the trains are back.

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