Nigerian Railway extends it’s magnañimity to yuletide season travellers, offering free train ride to all it’s destinations of coverage
By Uzor Odigbo
The federal government, through the ministry of Transportation, has in the spirit of Christmas, declared passenger trains across the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) free of charge during Christmas period, to ensure Nigerians travel and celebrate Christmas.
According to a statement made available to TheNiche by the ministry, “all the passenger trains on both standard and narrow gauge lines, which include Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan, Warri-Itakpe, Kano – Lagos, Minna-Kaduna, Aba-Port Harcourt routes are now all free from today Friday 24 December to Tuesday, 4 January 2022”.
The statement added that “however, the NRC management further explains that all boarding tickets due process by our valued customers must be complied with but not paid, while covid-19 protocols also must be strictly observed.
“The NRC board and management appeal to all Nigerians to use this federal government kind gesture, during this holy festive period to pray for our country, wishing all Nigerians happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.”
Railway in Nigeria, culled from Wikipedia
Railways in Nigeria consist of a 3,505 km Cape gauge national railway network and 669 km of standard gauge. The Cape gauge network is in poor condition due to lack of maintenance. In 2019, the single operational standard gauge line from Abuja to Kaduna generated as much revenue as the entire Cape gauge railway network combined.The Nigerian government plans to extend the standard gauge to replace most of the Western Line, while the Eastern Line will be rehabilitated as a Cape gauge line. All trains in Nigeria are operated by the Nigerian Railway Corporation