Rail accident: NRC begins construction of flyovers at level crossings

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says it has begun construction of underground pass and overhead bridges at the 11 level crossings across Lagos State to avoid accident.

The Managing Director of the corporation, Mr Fidet Okhiria, made this known in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday.

According to him, we have started the separation of road from the rail in Oyingbo and Ebute-Metta.

He said the corporation had constructed an underground pass and an overhead pass at the Agege level crossing.

“We are going to have 11 flyovers within Lagos and we cannot do all at the same time. We are constructing them in batches.

“Before now, we constructed barriers and they were vandalised; we even constructed automatic barriers which were also vandalised.

“Although we have been repairing them, especially the automatic barriers, they do not last for a week after such repairs.

“It is either they hit the barriers with vehicles or people vandalise them overnight,” Okhiria said.

He said that NRC management had planned to get gate men to stop vehicles and avoid accidents while passing through the level crossings.

He said that NRC would deploy men and technology to alert road users whenever trains approached the level crossings.

Okhiria noted that all over the world, people obeyed simple traffic regulations, but in Nigeria motorists usually violated traffic signs.

He urged motorists to be more careful while passing through level crossings, reminding them that life had no duplicate.