The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) announced that it will soon begin the process of selecting e-ticketing service providers for the Lagos-Ibadan and Warri-Itakpe standard gauge rail service, after it received approval from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
This was disclosed on Sunday after the ICRC Acting Director, Mr Mike Ohiani presented the certification to the NRC.
The certificate grants the NRC an Outline Business Certificate to enable it to process PPP-based online ticket sales solutions for its operations.
“In the past, tickets were sold in physical stores, or delivered to the respective railway ticket train station for purchase. In recent times, ticket vending machines have surfaced and have been improving the efficiency and productivity of train service.
“Technological advancement in recent years has led to the emergence of mobile ticketing or E-ticketing.
“The overall scope of both projects is to design, finance, operate, build, operate and manage a secure ticketing solution system (Hardware and Software) for the passengers’ stations on the Lagos – Ibadan Standard Train Service and the Warri-Itakpe standard Train Service,” Director Ohiani said.
The ICRC added that the introduction of e-ticketing would reduce the cost of operation, reduce handling cash and multiple fare problems as well as minimise human involvement in train fare transactions. It will also enable the collection of information, assist in the improvement of service to passengers and provide a platform for train fare transactions to take place seamlessly.
NRC Managing Director, Mr Fidet Okhiria, said that the concessionaire would operate the e-ticketing with NRC staff and hand it over to them with new replacement of technology after 10 years of operation.
Recall that earlier this year that the Federal Government launched a N900 million E-Ticketing platform for the Kaduna-Abuja rail services of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.
The platform, a PPP valued at N900 million, with a concessionaire, Secure ID Solutions, would provide and manage the system for 10 years in a bid to recoup its investment before handling the service over to the NRC.
