Railway corporation insists on cash payment, passengers groan

The Nigerian Railway Corporation has insisted on cash payment for fares along the Lagos-Ibadan route.

This is coming after the Federal Government adopted cashless payment systems across different segments of the country.

While other businesses are exploring the Point of Sale and online banking services, it was observed that officials of the NRC were not accepting bank transfers, neither were they using the PoS service.

When The PUNCH visited the Mobolaji Johnson Station in Lagos it was discovered that ticket officials were only accepting new naira notes. Also, a visit to the Babatunde Fashola Station showed that the ticketing officials accepted only new notes.

One of the officials said the management neither allowed bank transfers nor deployed the use of PoS machines, stating it was against their policy.

A passenger who gave his name as  Ahmed Ogunsanya said, “I paid with the little new notes I had on me, with a mixture of N100 notes to gain access to the train; the ticket officials rejected the old notes.”

Speaking on the development, District Manager for Lagos, NRC, Augustine Arisa, said there was no cash anywhere, saying “everybody is faced with the challenge.”

He confirmed that the NRC was collecting only new notes.

He said, “We are not using PoS. If it is not e-ticketing, you pay cash. Until when we are given the go-ahead on e-ticketing. The implication of this is that people who don’t have the new notes won’t be able to use the facility.”

Another passenger said, “The decision of the management of the corporation to introduce a collection of tickets with new naira notes is impromptu, ill-timed and embarrassing.”

PUNCH