In a bid to enhance the efficiency and ease of transportation across Nigeria, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Sai’du Alkali, has officially launched the e-ticketing services for Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warri train services.
The long-awaited e-ticketing system was inaugurated on Monday, in Abuja.
Vanguard reports that the new system aims to revolutionize the way passengers book and pay for their train tickets, eliminating the need for physical tickets or cash transactions.
The contract for the E-ticketing of the rail routes was approved by the Federal Executive Council in May 2023 at the cost of N1.96 billion with an expected revenue of N176bn in ten years.
Stating that the platform will make it easy for customers to buy tickets and also ensure their safety on board the train, he added that the e-ticketing platform will be accessible to the public on November 1, 2023.
The Minister said e-ticketing will also avoid racketeering, as the present administration desires to ensure zero tolerance for corruption.
He said: “The essence of E-ticketing is to make it easy for our passengers to buy tickets, for security purposes and to stop ticket racketeering. it will also ensure the security of our passengers onboard the train and avoid racketeering.
“From Wednesday, November 1st, Nigerians will enjoy the benefit of buying tickets at their convenience and without any issues.”
On his part, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Fidet Okharia, stated that the initiative had increased its weekly revenue on the Warri-Itakpe route to N28 million.
“I am so happy about this project, apart from the fact that e-ticketing will end issues of ticket racketeering, it will also increase the revenue from the routes. This means by the time e-ticketing commences, there is a likelihood that our revenue will increase.
“I can also announce that for the fear of the e-ticketing coming, we can see our revenue growing. I can boldly say that throughout last week, we didn’t earn anything less than N4m a day on the Itakpe Warri route,”
“I am certain that with this launch, I will stop receiving calls on why my staff are cheating Nigerians,” he stated.
The NRC DG restating his commitment to end unethical practices revealed that 14 persons have been heavily sanctioned for ticket racketeering. (Vanguard)
