The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), on Thursday, disclosed that over 63,000 passengers benefited from the free train rides offered by the Federal Government during the yuletide period.
Recall that the free train service was declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, covering all passenger services operated by the NRC and complimented by a 50% discount on inter-state transportation.
Fidet Okhiria, the Managing Director (MD) of NRC, revealed that the 63,000 passengers were transported between December 24 and 26.
The NRC MD who spoke with journalists in Lagos stated that the Federal Government had under-written all the costs involved in offering the free train service across the system.
He commended the Federal Government for providing all the necessary support to achieve the feat.
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The MD also advised passengers to obtain their tickets via the website as tickets are not available at the various stations.
According to him, e-ticketing “is to enable us to gather appropriate information to profile people travelling on our trains.”
He also stated that railway workers had been mobilised nationwide to ensure that the directive of the President was fully enforced.
Okhiria further decried the seemingly unending vandalisation of tracks across the railway corridors, saying, “Over 50,000 clips were vandalised on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line; same for the Kaduna-Abuja track.”
Having commenced the free train service on its entire passengers’ services from Thursday, December 21, 2023, the service would end by Thursday, January 4, 2024.
