Lagos Blue rail to commence passenger operations in August
The Lagos state blue rail system will commence operations in August.
Months after it was commissioned, the Lagos Blue Rail Line (Marina – Mile 12) will commence passenger operations in August.
The managing director of the Lagos State Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (LAMATA), Abimbola Akinajo, made this known at the agency’s Business/Investor forum, according to a statement on Thursday by Kolawole Ojelabi, the spokesperson of the transport authority.
The 13- kilometre metro line’s first phase of the railway transport system was commissioned in January by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Blue rail, powered by an independent power plant (IPP), is expected to be 27 kilometres long, connecting Okokomaiko to Marina.
Since the commissioning, the state government has been testing the rail system “for different groups of people across the state, to familiarise Lagosians with the rail system.”
Operations
“I am happy to inform you that we are rounding off all testing processes for the commencement of full passenger operation in August this year. Details of the operations will be announced soon,” Mrs Akinajo said.
“The first phase of LRMT Red Line (Agbado to Oyingbo) is also nearing completion, and we intend to commence testing and passenger operations about August 2023.”
Mrs Akinajo said that a wide range of transport infrastructure had been offered to investors for branding and Out-of-Homes advertising.
This, she said, will shore up revenue for the sustainability of the Lagos State Transport Network.
According to the agency’s boss, opportunities exist for investors in bus and rail advertising and infrastructure, such as pedestrian bridges, bus shelters, bus terminals, interchanges, and megacity bus terminals.
She said the agency’s first-ever Business/Investor forum was held to “call the attention of the business community to the need for a sustainable partnership on the use of transport infrastructure for the prosperity of their businesses and for the government to earn income to strengthen transport infrastructure and provide more.”
In his presentation, the agency’s technical adviser on corporate and investment planning, Osa Konyeha, said that the state government was seeking investors in the development of the Abule Egba – Sango Tollgate Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor, a 7.6-kilometre bus route with a daily projected ridership of over 63,000 passengers.
“Also available is the Oworonsoki – Apapa BRT, a 28-kilometre route with a projected daily ridership of about 430,000 passengers,” the statement reads.
Mr Konyeha further said that the government was ready to partner with investors in refurbishing 300 currently non-operational buses and the decarbonisation of the existing fleet and transition to cleaner energy.
“In rail transportation, the government is seeking partnership in the management of advertising and Out of Homes (OOH) concessions within the stations, construction and management of multi-level car parks, and skywalk bridges at Ikeja and Marina while also looking forward for concessionaires for the Green and Purple lines which have a combined distance of 133 kilometres,” he said.
“Investors would also have opportunity to bid for the upgrade of bus shelters, rehabilitation/construction of the Oyingbo Bus Terminal, construction of Ikorodu and Maryland Terminals and transport interchange facilities at Iju, Mushin, Ajah, Agege, LASU-Iba as well as Megabus terminals at Ojodu Berger, Odogunyan, Sango-Ota, Epe and Agbara.”
Premium Times