The Lagos State Government has announced that the Lagos Rail Mass Transit Blue Line rail system will open for full passenger operations in August, this year.
According to the Managing Director of Lagos State Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, Abimbola Akinajo, since the commissioning, the state government has been taking different groups of people on a test ride excise aimed at getting the public acquitted with the new rail systems.
“The coast is now clear for full scale passenger operations,” Akinajo said
She made it known that the automatic processing unit could process 250 passengers every minute, adding that the schedule was to have a train position to run every three minutes.
She said, “For the first phase, the Blue Light train will be able to carry between 200,000 and 250,000 passengers daily based on the availability of rolling stock.
“Operations will run from 5.30 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.”
She added that the system is designed to run a train in three minutes.
“During rush hours we will pull more trains, while during off-peak periods we would scale back the operations,” she added.
She said that the government would provide the template that would make the train affordable to the people, based on the current situation in the country.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari alongside Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, commissioned the project at the Marina Train Station in January this year.
The former President also witnessed the signing of the commencement of Phase 2 of the project from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.
The Blue rail line which is part of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit, will run 27.5 km from Marina to Okokomaiko, with 13 stations and an end-to-end journey time of 35 minutes.
The entire Blue Line will operate over a secure and exclusive right-of-way, with no level crossings and no uncontrolled access by pedestrians or vehicles.
The LAMATA boss said, the agency was rounding off all testing processes for the commencement of full passenger operations in August this year.
“Details of the operations will be announced to the public soon,” she said.
According to the LAMATA boss, the first phase of LRMT Red line, Agbado to Oyingbo is also nearing completion.
“Testing and passenger operations for this, will commence in August, this year,” she had said.
Akinajo also revealed that a wide range of transport infrastructure has been offered to investors for branding and out of home advertising.
This, according to her will shore up revenue for the sustainability and maintenance of the Lagos State Transport infrastructure.
The LAMATA boss said, there are enormous opportunities for advertising in bus and rail transport infrastructure such as pedestrian bridges, bus shelters, bus terminals, and interchanges.
The agency’s technical adviser on corporate and investment planning, Osa Konyeha, had said that the government was seeking investors in the development of the Abule Egba -Sango Toll Gate Bus Rapid Transport corridor, a bus route with a daily projected ridership of over 63,000 passengers.
“Also available is the Oworonshoki – Apapa BRT, a 28 kilometres route with a projected daily ridership of about 430,000 passengers,” he noted.
Konyeha said the Lagos State Government was ready to partner with investors in refurbishing 300 currently no operational buses and the decarbonization of the year existing fleet and transition to cleaner energy.
He said, in rail transportation, the Lagos State Government was seeking partnership in the management of advertising and Out of Homes 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.
