E-ticketing formally takes off on Lagos-Ibadan, Warri-Itakpe rail lines today

E-ticketing formally takes off on Lagos-Ibadan, Warri-Itakpe rail lines today

 

Passengers travelling on popular Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warri trains, both standard gauge, will henceforth pay for their tickets online as the electronic ticketing system formally commences today, Wednesday November 1, 2023.

Ahead of today’s rollout, the launch of the e-ticketing for the two new rail lines took place on Monday in Abuja with Minister of Transportation, Sa’idu Alkali, expressing excitement about the innovative payment system.

This came after a trial run of the project for about a week.

The minister assured Nigerians that their data is safe because the booking would be done in a government-owned website.

The electronic ticketing contract was awarded earlier this year by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to two different companies for the Lagos-Ibadan route and the Warri-Itakpe route at a total cost of N1.96bn.

Like the Abuja-Kaduna train, Nigerians going on any of the two trains will henceforth be required to log on to the website of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and book their ticket using their National Identification Number (NIN) to purchase their tickets.

During the Monday launch in Abuja, Mr Pushrar demonstrating how to book ticket online, stated that a customer could only be allowed to purchase not more than three tickets, one for himself and he must provide the NIN of the two others he is purchasing for to avoid ticket racketeering.

Chairman of Fane International Consults, Mr Olufisayo Ishola, said customers must purchase tickets 24 hours before departure and there is no refund of money if the customer fails to show up.

He said once the ticket has been booked online, the customer only has five minutes to make payment, failing to do that within that time will lead to the cancellation of the ticket, noting that there is a N100 extra inconvenience fee by booking he said

Also, there will be point-of-sale machines for those who want to purchase at the station. The contractors explained that the machines for ticket purchases will be linked with the system to track payments and ensure no racketeering.

According to him, there will also be a verification point before boarding to ensure that the data of customers matches that of the ticket holder.

Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria, also said the e-ticketing platform would increase revenue generation for the Federal Government.

He said the Federal Government had given the management of the e-ticketing for the Warri-Itakpe and Lagos–Ibadan routes to Ticketing Solutions Limited and Global Software and Digital Solution respectively for 10 years.

“I am happy about this project; apart from the fact that e-ticketing will end issues of ticket racketeering, it will also increase revenue from the routes.

“Already, last week, revenue on Warri-Itakpe increased from N3m to N4m and will increase further,” he said.