Managing director of the Railway Property Management Company Limited (RPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Timothy A. Zalanga, said the company is taking drastic measures against vandalisation of tracks and encroachment on rail lines.
Zalanga, who led a team of management staff of the company, stated this after an extensive tour of the rail tracks, property and the extent of encroachment within Kaduna metropolis.
The RPMC boss said the exercise was to take into account those operating within the railway lines and the level of compliance, adding that the particular interest is basically on those that have proper allocation and to authenticate whether their allocations meet the requirements of distance allowed to operate within the railway line corridor.
The MD said the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the NRC were in talks with the Kaduna State government on the timeline for the resumption of the Kaduna train service.
According to him, “Some people have responded to our efforts and we have discovered that we need to sustain the exercise to ensure that people know we are very serious, so as a follow up to what we started, we decided to go round again and see the level of compliance.
“The Kaduna State government is making efforts to start running train services within the metropolitan area by way of creating their own palliative to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal and providing rail transportation for the larger masses of the state, this has also aligned with our own plans to make sure that we get rid of structures and other businesses along the railway corridors so that once they are ready to start the service, there will be no hitches,” he said.
On encroachment, he said, “The standard right-of-way is between 50 feet to 75 feet depending on the location but there is an operational set back in which we cannot allow anybody construct anything because it provides risk for the train operation.”
He emphasised the company will leave no stone unturned towards ensuring that any structure within the operational set back area is removed, stressing however that, “Those in the right of way, if they do not obstruct the operational area, their papers of stay will be regularized.”
On rail track vandalism, he said the team discovered that people are taking advantage of the grounded train service to take away railway materials, towards this end he said the company will sustain surveillance on the rail tracks pending when the train service resumes effectively.
Zalanga sounded a strong note of warning to the public to desist from constructing and running businesses within the operational right of way of the railway lines for their safety and the safety of the generality of the public.
