Repair works on the bad portion of the level crossing that allegedly caused the train derailment at Ashade, Agege area of Lagos in the early hours of Thursday, began in earnest at about 1pm, with assurances that the tracks would be repaired to enable the resumption of the Mass Transit Train Service (MTTS) between Iddo, in Lagos and Ijoko in Ogun State by evening.
Nigerian Railway Corporation engineers and welders were seen working on track slippers, while others were digging up the worn tracks which was said to have caused the derailment to enable the repair work.
The Ashade Road, by Guinness Nigeria Plc, leading to the scene of the accident was cordoned off, and closed to traffic, a situation that led to heavy traffic on the Agege end of the Lagos Abeokuta Expressway as well as Capitol Road.
The three coaches that pulled off, causing the accident, were removed out of the scene at exactly 1.20 pm on Thursday, by local engineers, leaving NRC technicians to continue the repair works.
The Acting Lagos District Manager Mr Augustine Arisa said no life was lost in the incident.
He said the derailment happened when the Apapa-bound mass transit train coming from Ijoko, in Ogun State, skidded off its tracks at the Ashade railway crossing at Agege on the Ikeja corridor.
“The situation is now under control, and the train would be back on track by evening,” he said.
Earlier, in an interview with reporters, the General Manager of the Lagos state Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Tiamiyu said the agency could not confirm any casualty as those involved in the accident allegedly ran away as a result of fear that they may be arrested by the police for hanging on the train coaches.
He said assured that the NRC was working to restore the tracks and soon traffic would be restored on the axis.
It would be recalled that on June 20, 2018 a commercial bus rammed into a moving train around the Agege corridor leaving on its trail some casualty. Also on Nov. 16 of the same year, a passenger train had derailed around abattoir area of Agege.
