Review – Taking the Ibadan to Lagos Train

Hello my beautiful, blossoming, blessed and beloved people.

Though I am a bit late to the party, sometime this month, I finally took the not-so-new Ibadan to Lagos train. My mother and I had some business to attend in Abeokuta, and my sister was going to Lagos, so we all decided to take the train.

Where is the New Ibadan Train Station Located?

The Ibadan train station is located at Moniya. It is about five minutes away from the Moniya motor park. It costs about 100 Naira to take a bike or tricycle from the park to reg train station. The train takes off from Ibadan at 8am, Monday through Friday, and we arrived at the station by 7:40am.

How much is a Train Ticket from Ibadan to Lagos?

Here’s a picture with more information on prices and timing:

We went on to get the tickets, and found out that the staff only accept cash payments (are we in the 19th century?) Luckily, there’s a POS machine there in case you need to withdraw some cash.

Few minutes after we bought our tickets, the Ibadan to Lagos train arrived at the station, and we needed to carry our luggage into the train. My sister had quite a number of heavy luggage, but we found someone to help her carry them, and we gave him a tip afterwards.

We boarded the train, but were in different coaches, as the Abeokuta and Lagos coaches were separated. Our tickets had allocated seat numbers on them, so we went ahead and took our seats.

After I settled down, I noticed that the temperature in my coach was not too cold, as I had already been warned ahead that the air conditioning was usually set to unreasonably low temperatures, and I had even packed a sweater along, but alas. It might have also been corner I sat in too oh.

I was pleased to find a USB charging port by my seat.

As the paragon of beauty that I am, I took some quick shots.

As I was taking some pictures, something happened. A family came to my seat and said one of them had been allocated my seat. I thought that was impossible, until we compared tickets and in true Nigerian fashion, we had the same seat numbers. Luckily, there were more than enough seats available, so the train staff directed them elsewhere.

What time does the Ibadan to Lagos Train take off?

At 7:58am, it was announced over the P.A system, that the train would takeoff in two minutes. At exactly 8am, it took off, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw two ladies running to catch the train but it was too late.

The trip started, and from my seat I could see two small TV screens showing a movie, though there was no sound. Maybe for the aesthetics, I thought.

About 10 minutes into the trip, my sister left her Lagos coach to join us in our Abeokuta coach. (is that legal, beloved?) When she looked up at the TV screen, she shook her head, saying, ‘not again.’ I laughed and asked her what the matter was. She told me that that was the same movie that had played on every train ride she’s taken since January.

Twenty minutes into the trip, our tickets came to be stamped. From there on out, it was pretty uneventful and I read a few chapters of a book I had packed along.

We arrived at Abeokuta at exactly 9am, and the precise timing shocked me.

When we alighted, I noticed that the Abeokuta station was still under a lot more construction than Ibadan’s. I counted about 6 other train tracks, and I hope that means more trains and routes are in the works.

My hope is that things don’t go the Nigerian way, and the train services are well maintained, as that will be nice for a change. Overall, it was a chill experience and would recommend for group trips and such fun things.

Till next time, take care!