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

The managing director of the corporation, Fidet Okhiria, disclosed this in an interview in Lagos on Tuesday.

“We have started the separation of the road from the rail in Oyingbo and Ebute-Metta,” he said.

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,” he said.

The NRC boss stressed that the barriers earlier constructed were vandalised. He, however, said the commission had started repairing them,

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

He said that NRC management had planned to get gatemen 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.

Mr 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. 

(NAN)