MY FIRST RAIL TRAVEL EXPERIENCE

    I have always heard of the rail system in Nigeria as a dormant sector. Moreover i have never seen a train before, that was in 2015. I ask adult people questions about it including my mum. Most of them said it's been awhile they saw a train. Most said they haven't seen a train before. And some said that they it's been long while they use the rail. 

  Then i set out to find out more about using the rail system. I search Nigerian railway corporation website online for info but i got nothing. I asked my mum for the location of the station and i was told it is at iddo. On a faithful day, i took my bicycle and started out to iddo to find out more about the train travel. when i got there, I went to the ticket reservation area to ask for the price of train ticket to ibadan and i was told it's 500# for economy class and 800# for first class. I was very excited for seeing train for the first time in my life. I made up my mind to give it a try.

  On friday 15th December 2015, I plan to travel to ibadan and i decided to use the railway. I woke up early took my birth and away i went to the station. I got to the station as early as 9am because the train leaves by 12pm on fridays. I met other prospective passengers willing to use the train to their various destinations. Mostly north. I waited till 2pm. Ticket wasn't sold. me and other passengers were apprehensive. some left in anger to take bus to their respective destinations. 

  We were later told to go take bus as the train isn't traveling that day. I was extremely disappointed. I took bus to Ibadan. 
I was called for interview at Nigerian college of Aviation technology, Zaria, Kaduna state. My mom asked me to go find out the price of ticket to north at the station. It was 4000# for first class coach. 

   
     Price of Train ticket from lagos to kano.

 On Friday may, i woke up as early as 4:00am, took my bag and get prepared for my journey to north. I was so excited about it. I left home by 9:00am. When i arrived the station, i met alot of intending passengers. I expected the ticketer to start selling ticket by 11:30am as train departs at 12:00pm. Surprising, ticket wasn't sold. I was nervous and at the same time i was scared that the train won't be leaving that day. My mind raced back to the previous day i was to travel by train and the disappointment i met. I checked the time, it was past three. I met a guy, his name is Victor. He is travelling to Minna in Niger. He schools in Federal university of technology minna. And it was his first time of using the rail system. He was also greatly afraid because i explained my past ordeal to him. I slept for over 4 hours.

I slept on a mat here

  At exactly 6:00 pm, Victor woke me up that ticket is being sold. I was very happy that finally we are moving. I was just to eager to get on the train. I went to get two tickets while victor watch over out luggages. I got the ticket and we went to the tarmac and we board the train. I was very happy that finally for the first time, i will be travelling by train. I put my luggage and that of victor on the over head compartment. at 6:15pm, we left the station with a hoot. I can still hear the sound literally. I had my diary with me. I wrote every single detail of things that happened in course of the journey.

Train Route

From Iddo station -through- Ebute metta - through- Yaba -through- Mushin -through- Oshodi -through- Ikeja -to- Agege station. Agege station is our first stop. Train stop to pick up passengers that are travelling to north. We started out from Agege station and pass through- Iju-Junction -through- Agbado -to- Itori station where we had another stop to pick up passengers. One thing i love about this station is the fact that you can buy sugar cane. almost every frequent train traveller buys sugar cane at this station. I didn't buy any, but other passengers bought and i was offered. we hardly spend up to 10mins at these stations. We set out again and had another stop at Ijoko station. It was night already. We got to Abeokuta station to drop and pick up passengers. I bought food at the station.We left and arrive at Ibadan station. I was very excited when the train left ibadan station because i have never travelled beyond Ibadan before and the fact that i was travelling beyond ibadan made me joyous. We had our next stop by midnight at Iwo station. The weather was very cold and i used my wrapper to wrap self.

wrapper used against cold

 It was really dark at the station but surprisingly, people were at the station waiting for the train. Our next stop was Ede station. People board and disembark. We got to Oshogbo station at exactly 4:00 am in the morning. I marveled at the sight of the station. It is a huge edifice also big to the size of iddo station. Mind you, i couldn't sleep because i was too excited. I walked the length and breadth of the train. I move from one coach to another to the extent that my face because very familiar with alot of people and they started interacting with me. Anytime we arrive any station, I will always come down from the train and move around the station. Buying things. I bought a lot of things. We left Oshogbo and I slept off and i wasn't able to fill my diary. I woke up when we arrived Offa station

At offa station

in the morning in Kwara state. It is a very big station. And i learnt that it is the resting point of most trains going to north. Where the train driver rest, eat, and even change of driver is done here. refueling of  train is also done here. And that leads to delay as train can wait for 3-4 hors before take off. When we arrive offa station, we had a delay of approximately 4 hours. The reasons was because we were waiting for a train from kano to arrive before we move as we are gonna be needing the engine. We left around 11:15 am in the morning. We arrive Ilorin station late in the afternoon. We left and we arrive Jebba station. The road to Jebba was treacherous and dicey as the tracks were laid on hilly way and that made the driver go slowly. I even saw a cargo bus car that derailed at that spot. The driver drove slow and steady. At Jebba station, a lot of fish sellers are present because jebba is very close to river niger. In short, i was looking at river Niger from jebba station. I bought fish and i love the way it was fried. Kwara state is the state that borders the south western part and northern part of nigeria. River niger is the demarcation that holds it. When we left Jebba station, we took a bridge on the river niger.

TO BE CONTINUED...