Journalist builds ticketing app for rail

Abdulganiyu Alabi, a Kaduna-based journalist has designed an e-ticketing application ‘Trainwise’ which can allow passengers to book their tickets from their phones, The Nations has said.

The app works for the Abuja/Kaduna and Lagos/Ibadan Standard Gauge lines.

According to Alabi who works for Guardian newspaper, the new platform will reduce the stress on travelers who originally will have to be in a queue to buy their tickets. He added that it will also check ticket racketeering and help train stations automate the booking process and make them more transparent.

The journalist urged the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) to adopt the app, saying it can solve about 80 percent of problems faced at the stations, The Nations reported.

He said: “I joined other journalists to report happenings at the stations and I felt I can solve this problem with my computer knowledge. I can guarantee that if the App is adopted, users will enjoy it.

“Luckily, my journalism practice helped me a lot because I was able to understand the pain of train users. Before designing the App, I had to embark on research and visit the train stations to observe things happening there.

“The Kaduna/Abuja line, which has been functioning for more than two years, lacks an e-ticketing app, and passengers lament the difficulties they encounter before securing tickets. The hardship is just too much. That was why I decided that as a solution-based journalist, there is need for me to go beyond reporting and start making things happen with the knowledge in my possession.

“The app, when adopted by the NRC, will relieve people of the stress they go through to obtain tickets. With the app in place, no more ticket racketeering.

“You can book for train at home or anywhere at the stipulated time and the moment you reach the station, all you need to do is to show the ticket you purchased to an attendant for QR code scanning and they allow you in.

“And there is no way you can enter with fake ticket because the QR scanner captures all your bio data.”