Two days after its take-off, the federal government’s 50 percent reduction in transport fares and free train ride are facing teething problems in most northern states.

First, there is poor awareness among the targeted beneficiaries of the arrangement. Also, the selected transport companies are not operational on the designated routes in the North from the 28 routes announced by the government on Wednesday.

The five transport companies selected for the exercise withdrew their services from the northern states in the wake of the escalation of insurgency and banditry.

Some of the routes picked to serve the North have take-off points from the South East and South West, terminating up North.

The routes are Abuja-Sokoto, Abuja-Gombe, Abuja-Kano, Onitsha-Abuja, Onitsha-Kano, Lagos-Kaduna-Zaria, Onitsha-Zaki Biam, Onitsha-Jos and Lagos-Kano.

Also, travellers in most northern states are yet to benefit from the government’s free train ride as the services of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) have been grounded for several years. Only the Abuja-Kaduna rail route is in operation.

In a bid to alleviate the financial burden of transportation costs during the festive season, the federal government had chosen prominent transport companies to execute a 50 per cent transport subsidy.

According to the government, five million Nigerians are expected to benefit from the intervention, which began on Thursday and will end on January 4, 2024.

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