Nigerian gov't offers free train rides, slashes transport fares during Yuletide

ABUJA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Wednesday announced an initiative to offer free train rides and slash transportation fares by 50 percent on luxury buses across 22 routes nationwide, in a move geared toward easing the financial strain associated with holiday travels during the Yuletide.

The government's intervention on the cost of public transportation was to allow domestic travelers to visit their loved ones and hometowns "to do so without stress and the extra burden imposed by the high cost of transport around this period," Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, said at a press briefing in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.