Ticket racketeering in Kubwa and Rigasa train stations

The Abuja to Kaduna monorail project was conceptualised in 2011 and valued at the $874m with the Exim Bank of China providing $500m, while the Federal Government provided the balance as its counterpart fund. It was not until 2015, after all stations that make up the project were completed, that the rail line was commissioned. […]

The Abuja to Kaduna monorail project was conceptualised in 2011 and valued at the $874m with the Exim Bank of China providing $500m, while the Federal Government provided the balance as its counterpart fund. It was not until 2015, after all stations that make up the project were completed, that the rail line was commissioned.

The railway, aside from providing a convenient route for passengers also has the added advantage of safety. The fear of the unknown, especially road carnage, constantly nursed by travellers on the Kaduna -Abuja road has caused commuters to mount pressure on the railway lines.

Only recently, the Kaduna State government issued a warning to motorists and other road users against stopping along the way for any security check, to avoid attendant consequences. Victims of most abductions often complained of stopping along the highways because of military and police checkpoints along the routes. It was gathered that suspected kidnappers man the routes, wearing military uniforms and thereby deceiving unsuspecting motorists along the highways

Due to the spate of kidnapping and armed robbery along the Kaduna-Abuja express way, hundreds of passengers throng the train station daily, leading to rowdiness during ticket purchase.

En route Kaduna, on Friday November 15, 2019, was a tug of war for passengers willing to buy tickets across the counter at the Kubwa train station in Abuja. Train officials deliberately hoarded and sold the tickets to the highest bidders who had paid way before the commencement of sales. Meanwhile, passengers were told that tickets have been sold out. Top government officials and expatriates came and bought first class tickets through a special arrangement at a humongous rate.

Apparently, train officials hoard the tickets for this pecuniary purpose while those that could not afford the humongous amounts resigned to fate and ply the dreaded road.

Unfortunately, we later saw a different ticket flying around. This ticket has no allocated seat number but with a bold caption “Std” which means standing. Commuters who buy such ticket are to stand through the journey.

In Kaduna too, there is the issue of ticket hoarding. Officials of the railway corporation hoard these tickets. They will not sell the tickets until the highest bidders come.

My encounter with a ticket official at Rigasa train station confirms allegations of fraud and existence of a ticket racket. The official rate of economy class ticket is N1,300, but an independent official requested that I buy it at N2,000 for my trip.

But how could the ticketing fraud be tackled and the ticketing method reviewed to meet global standard? Although the call for online ticketing seems cliché, it does not make it any less timely. There is a need to urgently create an avenue for a more advanced ticketing method, with the actual fares rate, real-time and destination booking.

Dambo writes from Kaduna