Mr Rasheed Gbadamosi, the District Manager, South West Zone of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), says North-South train services have been disrupted due to erosion caused by downpour in some parts of Ilorin.
Gbadamosi, who disclosed this in Ilorin while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the corporation had suffered colossal losses in revenue.
The manager identified areas where the rail tracks were mostly affected to include Ila market, Ogbondoroko site in Asa Local Government Area, Unity Road Junction and Agric area.
Gbadamosi added that the damaged tracks had crippled train services during the recent Eid-el-Kabir festival regarded as the corporation’s peak period.
“The most catastrophic is the Unity Road junction although there are pockets of minor ones, but the major one is that of Unity junction,” he said.
Gbadamosi, however, assured the public that train services would soon be restored.
He also accused the state government of not providing the right drainage system, especially during the rainy season.
“This is becoming a regular phenomenon created by the state government.
“It is government’s responsibility to provide appropriate drainage to accommodate the volume of storm water, considering the topography of the affected areas,” he said.
Gbadamosi appealed to the state government to provide appropriate drainage system in the affected locations to accommodate the volume of storm water during rainfall.
He said the corporation had been battling in the last two weeks with the restoration of the tracks in order to link the Northern and Southern part of the country to ensure effective train services.
Gbadamosi said the corporation was committed to providing efficient, effective, safe and reliable train services in the country.
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