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By Fidelis Ugbomeh
The Christmas and New Year season is meant to be a time of celwbration , goodwill and travels, and many communities along the railway corridor enjoyed free train rides during the festivities, as ordered by the federal government.
This is as some beneficiaries and fun seekers decried the exclusion of weekends and public holidays as part of the free train ride package.
From Lagos to Ibadan, Warri to Itakpe, Abuja to Kaduna, Ijoko/Kajola to Iddo and Kajola to Apapa and back, the story was the same as over 200,000 passengers cashed in on the free train ride to visit families and friends.
Managing director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria, said the federal government gave the corporation one hundred percent support to implement the free train ride programme.
He disclosed that the government paid for diesel, security, cleaning and electricity used during the train ride in order to cushion impact of fuel subsidy removal, adding that the decision to allow only passengers who make bookings online to enjoy the train ride was aimed at controlling the anticipated upsurge in demand.
According to him officials of the corporation did their best to meet the demand of passengers while it lasted.
He also noted that despite the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government in May last year the management of the corporation did not increase fares on all it routes.
Okhiria posited that passenger train service worldwide is not expected to generate profit because it is a social service aimed at meeting the transit demands of passengers at a cheaper rate.
According to one of the passengers, Mrs. Ola Oni, the process of booking online before enjoying the free train ride was cumbersome and difficult because of the upsurge in booking.
She posited that although the gesture was offered in good faith but many could not benefit because the long distance train from Lagos to Ibadan was always fully booked.
Oni advised government to increase the frequency of the long distance standard gauge passenger trains as well as Ijoko/Kajola to Iddo narrow gauge interstate trains from two to four.
Another passenger, Mrs. Komolafe Ade, said, “But for the announcement of free ride on all train routes, I did not know that the passenger trains in the country were still operating.
“It was an amazing experience when I booked online and had the opportunity to board the standard gauge train from Abuja to Kaduna after booking online as the coaches were fully air conditioned and the ride was seamless.”
Ade, however, advised that the free train ride should have been extended to public holidays and weekends so that people could move from one place to another to celebrate.
But an automobile engineer, Ajare Abankwa Dickson, held a contrary view saying -it would have been wrong to deny workers of the corporation the opportunity to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their families on Christmas and New Year day.
He noted that, apart from former governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who offered free train ride for indigines of the state resident in Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan, amongst other neighbouring communities, to travel from Lagos to Oshogbo free of charge during past sallah and Christmas celebrations, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s gesture was the first of its kind at the federal level.
He averred that the gesture of government in introducing the free train ride was commendable and should be sustained.
