The holiday season is a time for family reunions, travel, and celebration.
As millions of people hit the roads and stations to make their way home this yuletide, finding a way to make the journey smoother and more affordable becomes a top priority.
To help some Nigerians visit their loved ones and share precious moments this yuletide, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is rolled out a free train ride initiative.
It says it will serve an estimated 340,000 passengers during the festive season.
As part of the Federal Government’s palliative efforts, the programme aims to provide relief to Nigerians travelling across major routes, ensuring seamless and affordable transport throughout the Yuletide period.
Everybody Boarded
The Acting Managing Director of the NRC, Ben Iluanosi, spoke at Kubwa Station on Friday after the first successful round of free rides.
“Today is the first free ride of the initiatives, the palliatives set by the federal government.”
He assured Nigerians that the NRC was committed to ensuring the programme’s success.
“We will enforce the free train ride. We’ll make it happen and ensure it goes successfully. Glory be to God, it was successful today.
“Everybody boarded, those with tickets first, and those without tickets were profiled, their ID cards checked, and they boarded.
“The important thing is that we were able to board every passenger free of charge,” Iluanosi explained.
Also Iluanosi detailed the scale of the initiative, saying: “We have an average of 20,000 passengers every day that will ride the train free of charge.
“So approximately, we are going to carry about 340,000 passengers over the period.”
The routes include Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan, Port Harcourt-Aba, Lagos Mass Transit, and Warri-Itape. This morning, all the routes went seamlessly.
Yuletide Free Ride Service
Addressing concerns about ticketing and crowd control, Iluanosi encouraged passengers to plan.
“The passengers boarded, those with tickets and those without tickets. The ones without tickets were profiled.
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“What I want to appeal to Nigerians and our passengers is the federal government has brought out this good initiative.
“Let us please enjoy it in an orderly manner.
“As I speak today, as I speak now, the portals are open. Tickets for tomorrow are still available.
“I encourage all Nigerians that want to travel, first of all, make your travel plans early. Book online. The tickets are available.”
He noted that the NRC had also implemented measures to prevent abuse of the free ride service this yuletide.
“Okay, so we’ve beefed up our security. Some of you that were here at Kubwa with me, would admit that you noticed the presence of extra security.
“In terms of the solution itself, we’ve also improved on buying tickets.
“So, for instance, you are unable to buy more than two tickets at a time.
“So, we’ve managed to put that in place to ensure that people don’t buy multiple and multiple tickets at the same time.
“We are trying in terms of crowd control.
“You are unable to buy more than two tickets at a time to ensure people don’t hoard tickets.
“We’ve beefed up security, and extra personnel are on the ground to ensure orderliness,” Iluanosi noted.
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