Factors influencing the quality of rail transport services in metropolitan Lagos

Abstract

This paper presents user’s opinion on the factors influencing the quality of rail transport service passengers’ operation and also evaluates the relationships between the adopted factors (variables of the quality of rail passengers’ services in metropolitan Lagos). Data collection was through the administration of structured questionnaires on the quality of rail service in Lagos. Passengers were purposively selected from a total number of 1,100 passengers on board in order to attain a sample size of 19.1% which represents the total number of questionnaires (210) administered for the study. The study revealed that most of the passengers make many trips per week and are likely to depend more on train than other modes of transport. Only a minority 38 (18.1%) of the train patrons in Lagos metropolis observed the arrival time of train as a good one. The study revealed that 80% of train patrons in Lagos metropolis observed that the service was ineffective and inadequate. It implied that, majority of the respondents 170 (81%) rated the cleanliness of the coaches as poor. The study also revealed with inferential evidence that, only the arrival time of trains at stations has a significant relationship with the patrons’ trip frequency (r = 0.124, p>0.05) out of the various determinants. The paper concluded by recommending measures that could enhance the quality of rail service operation which includes the review of the time schedules, departure time and the cleaning of the coaches from time to time. Key words: Public transport, rail transport’s quality, Lagos metropolis.