Lagos Blue Line Rail To Commence Commercial Operations On September 4

The Lagos Blue Line rail will begin commercial operations on September 4, the state government has announced.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by the Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Engr. Abimbola Akinajo.

The Blue Line rail, which will move from Marina to Mile 2, is expected to move 250,000 passengers daily.

According to Akinajo, a full Journey from Marina to Mile 2 will cost N750, while zonal fares will be between N400 and N500 (for people not making the complete full trip).

She, however, informed that with the transportation palliative announced by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in July, passengers will pay 50 percent of the current fares.

Akinajo noted that the first train ride would commence by 9 am with the governor on board, along with other passengers, from Marina to Mile 2 train station.

She explained that for the first four weeks the rain will run only twelve trips with locomotive system, adding that after one month LAMATA will commence electric powered train operation with 76 trips, with an estimated passengers between 150,000 or 175,000, from 5.30am to 11pm on a daily basis.

The train will only stop for 90 seconds at each station, Akinajo added.

In January, former President Muhammadu Buhari, commissioned the first phase of the rail project.

Buhari who rode on the rail infrastructure, also witnessed the signing of the contract for the second phase of the project between the Lagos State government and the Messrs China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the contractor.

The first phase is 13-kilometer covering five stations, while the second phase is 14km, spanning from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko area of the state.

The project, which is being supervised by LAMATA, started in 2010 under the administration of Babatunde Fashola.

However, it experienced some delays under the administration of Akinwunmi Ambode, before the current administration of Sanwo-Olu restarted it in 2019.

LAMATA had proposed seven lines in the network: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple, Brown and Orange, but only Blue Line and Red Line have received government attention.