MORE THAN 163,000 NIGERIANS BENEFITTED FROM FREE TRAIN TRAVEL AND A 50% DISCOUNT ON ROAD FARES – FG

Babatunji Wusu –

According to the Federal Government, roughly 163, 878 Nigerians have benefited from the transportation refund that was implemented in December 2023.

This was disclosed in a statement released on Monday by Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, through his media assistant Kehinde Bamigbetan.

Remember that the government stated on December 19 that passengers traveling on 30 routes will receive a 50% discount on transport fares in addition to free train travel.

According to Alake, who also serves as the Chairman of the Committee on the Implementation of the End-of-Year Transportation Subsidy Program, the NRC carried 71,000 people between December 21 and December 31, 2023.

The minister further stated that 77,122 people were transported by buses run by the Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBON), with 15,766 passengers traveling on 652 bus excursions that started at Oshodi Interchange in Lagos.

He claimed that in order to address the issue, the committee added two more routes and involved other bus-owning organizations, including the Private Transport Operators Association (PTONA), the state-owned transport businesses, and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

Alake urged the bus companies to work together to oversee the return of passengers from their various locations through January 4th, pointing out that the program is still in progress.

According to the statement, between December 21 and December 31, 2023, NRC transported 71,000 passengers, ALBON-sponsored buses transported 77,122 passengers, and 652 bus excursions that started and ended at Oshodi Interchange in Lagos carried 15,766 people.

In the first ten days of the program, 163, 878 travelers benefited, according to this.

Secondly, travelers traveling by car only had to pay 50% of the cost, whilst those traveling by rail were completely free of charge.

The subsidies were based on the fares, which ranged from N15,000 for a Lagos-Onisha bus fare of N30,000 to N21,500 for a Lagos-Abuja road trip fare of N43,000.