Free train ride: We conveyed 63,000 passengers in two days

The Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, has moved at least 63,000 people in two days who took the advantage of the Federal Government’s free ride during this Yuletide festivities.

The Managing Director, NRC, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, who disclosed this, said the 63,000 passengers were moved between December 24 and 26 alone.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had last week declared free train rides across the country covering all passenger services operated by the NRC. This is in addition to the 50 per cent subsidy in inter-state transportation.

The NRC commenced the free train service on its entire passengers’ services from Thursday, December 21, 2023 and it would end by Thursday, January 4, 2024.

The NRC MD, who spoke with journalists in Lagos on Thursday, said 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.

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.

He said the free train passenger service was being offered on all the corporation’s routes such as Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna and Warri-Itakpe standard gauge lines.

The NRC MD also 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”.