RAIL TRANSIT OPERATIONS AND PASSENGER’S SATISFACTION IN LAGOS DISTRICT OF THE NIGERIAN RAILWAY CORPORATION: BEST PRACTICE APPROACH

Abstract

Abstract This study examines the rail transit operations and passenger’s satisfaction within the ideals of international best practices using the Lagos District of the Nigerian Railway Corporation as a study area. The aim of the study is to ascertain the degree to which the rail system's use and operations have been able to incorporate global best practices. The study employed the international best practices on rail transportation and incorporated both the use of primary and secondary data sources. The primary data source relied on questionnaire which was administered to rail users to generate information for the study while the secondary data relied essentially on the review of literatures, articles, books and journals. The result from the findings shows that international best practices are yet to be fully reflected in the development of railway system in the study area, meaning that issues of international best practices which include environmental friendliness, speed and propulsion, multiple use of ticketing system as well as multimodality applications are grossly absent in the day to day operations of the rail transport system in the study area. The findings from this study provide the basis for recommendations highlighted. The non-compliance of the Nigerian rail transport system with international best practices have policy and planning implications which include operational constraints, inefficiency as well as anticipated huge cost. It is therefore recommended that the railway transport development agenda of the country must take into consideration immediate, short, medium, and long term policy and planning measures that conform to the ideals of international best practices.