Cash payment: NRC says e-ticketing on Lagos-Ibadan, Warri-Itakpe lines coming soon

The Nigerian Railway Corporation says it is still demanding cash from passengers riding on the Lagos-Ibadan and Warri-Itakpe trains because the e-ticketing along the corridors is being perfected.

It appealed to the passengers to bear with the corporation as it would soon roll out the e-ticket along the two corridors already being enjoyed by those using the Abuja-Kaduna train.

It stated this in a statement issued on Monday in reaction to reports that the NRC was rejecting electronic transfer of train fare by passengers in the face of cash scarcity many Nigerians are currently going through following the naira redesign by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The statement, issued by the NRC Public Relations Deputy Director, Yakub Mahmood, was entitled ‘NRC Not Rejecting Electronic Transfer’.

It read, “The Board and management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC)’s attention has been drawn to news trending on the social and mainstream media platforms, claiming that NRC does not accept electronic transfer and old naira notes, for train boarding ticketing at their various passenger Train Stations, especially Lagos – Ibadan Train Service (L.I.T.S) and Warri — Itakpe Train Service (W.I.T.S).

“As we are all aware of the currency policy, introduced by the Federal Government, which redesigned some denominations of naira notes that are being gradually swapped with the old Naira notes, pending when the transition from old to new will be completed.

“We only accept physical cash across – the — counter for train boarding with the Naira Notes approved as Legal Tender by the government.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.

“NRC is therefore appealing to our esteemed passengers, especially along LITS and WITS routes, to bear with us, especially during this temporary commercial transaction challenges, as we are bracing to deploy the online train ticketing system on the LITS and WITS routes soon, with far reaching arrangement being concluded for hitch-free deployment of the technology.

“Meanwhile, we appreciate your patronage and absolute patience before we finally migrate to the on-line electronic passengers’ train ticketing system in our entire train operations/services.”