E-ticketing platform for Lagos-Ibadan rail kicks off amid hitches

The e-ticketing platform created by the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) for the Lagos-Ibadan train route has kicked off.

The e-ticketing platform — https://nrc.gsds.ng/ — became active for train booking today.

Passengers are expected to access the website on their digital devices and register using their national identification numbers (NIN).

After completion of the registration, users are expected to sign in to the website with their email addresses and password in order to book a train.

To book a train on the website, NIN is also a requirement. After a train has been booked, payment is expected to be made and the website will redirect users to a Flutterwave website for payment using a debit card.

TRAIN STATION VISIT

TheCable visited the Mobolaji Johnson train station at Ebute Meta, Lagos, on Wednesday morning to ascertain whether passengers had started using the e-ticketing platform.

At the ticket section of the station, there was a publicity banner positioned at the entrance.

The banner carries the message announcing the e-ticketing platform and how passengers should access the platform and book a train.

At about 10:45 am, the train with passengers from Abeokuta and Ibadan arrived at Ebute Meta.

TheCable spoke to some of the passengers who said the e-ticketing platform did not work at the Obafemi Awolowo train station, Ibadan and Professor Wole Soyinka train station, Abeokuta.

Some of the passengers said they were finding it difficult to understand the platform, while others said their payments were not successful due to a hitch in receiving a one-time password (OTP).

A number of the passengers said they later paid cash at the train stations because the e-ticketing platform failed to accept their payments.

Speaking with TheCable, Kazeem, a businessman, said he became aware of the e-ticketing platform today when he arrived at the Ibadan train station.

The businessman said the website was not loading properly, adding that he was left with no option than to pay with cash.

“They should have told us about this thing (referring to the e-ticketing platform) before today. It was today I knew about it and when I tried the website it was just loading repeatedly so I asked them to allow me to pay in cash because the time was going,” he said.

Another passenger who identified himself as Damilola, said himself and some passengers paid cash at the Abeokuta train station, because their payment was not successful on the website.

At the Mobolaji Johnson train station, TheCable observed that passengers who could not complete their payments due to OTP issues lodged complaints at the ticket section.

SCAM ALERT

In order to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians, some fake websites have been circulating on the social media.

The original website is — https://nrc.gsds.ng.

SCAM ❌❌

— NIGERIAN RAILWAY CORPORATION (@info_NRC) November 1, 2023