The Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) has suspended the early morning (8am) train ride from Ujevwu in Delta to Itakpe in Kogi State from Jan. 17.
The suspsion was said to be attached to technical glitches.
This was made known by NRC’s Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria, on Sunday, noting that measures have been put in place to rectify the issues at the earliest possible time.
“This is to inform the general public and, most especially, our esteemed passengers that due to technical hitches the 08:00hrs train from Ujevwu Station will not run from tomorrow, Jan. 17.
“The 14:15hrs train will, however, continue to run.
“Be assured that every effort is being made to ensure that this disruption is for a minimal period of time.
“We regret any inconveniences this may cause our esteemed passengers,” he said.
It had been recently reported that one of the newly procured Warri-Itakpe standard gauge train coaches gutted by fire.
A staff of the NRC disclosed that the cause of the fire was still unknown.
“The cause of the fire is still unknown as we speak, but it has finally been put out. It is one of the new trains that run scheduled trips between Warri and Itakpe,” the staff explained.
When asked why NRC workers were seen in a video battling the fire with leaves and blankets instead of a fire extinguisher, the staff said most of the train coaches don’t have fire extinguishers fitted in them.
“Most of the train coaches do not have fire extinguishers, so the workers used what was available to quench the fire, even though a substantial part of the coach was burnt,” the staff explained.
When contacted, the NRC spokesman Mr Mahmood Yakub said investigation was ongoing to unravel the cause of the fire incident.
He said: “The Managing Director would be addressing the media on the cause of the fire but investigation is ongoing to know the cause of the fire on one of the coaches of the Warri-Itakpe train.”
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