Mile 2-Marina rail line ready to convey 200,000 passengers daily, says Lagos

Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) says the infrastructure for the first phase of the blue line rail project is complete and ready for operation.

The first phase of the Lagos blue line rail system is designed to run from Mile 2 (on the mainland) to Marina (on the island).

Kolawole Ojelabi, consultant, corporate communication of LAMATA, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.

Ojelabi said the completion of the infrastructure was in fulfilment of the promise made by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos state governor.

He said Sanwo-Olu had promised that the project would be completed in the last quarter of 2022 ahead of the commencement of passenger operations in the first quarter of 2023.

Ojelabi said the blue line project was one of the six rail lines and monorails prescribed for Lagos in the state’s strategic transport master plan (STMP), adding that the construction had been divided into phases for ease of implementation and is expected to move more than 500,000 passengers when the entire line is completed.

“Governor Sanwo-Olu had, while campaigning for the office of governor, promised to complete the infrastructure for the first phase of the Lagos rail mass transit (LMRT) blue line and bring it to passenger operation,” he said.

“The first phase is a 13-kilometer stretch from Marina to Mile 2 and has five stations at Mile 2, Suru-Alaba, Orile Iganmu, National Theatre and Marina. It is expected to move about 200,000 passengers daily.”

Ojelabi said the rail system would be powered by electricity from an independent power plant to be purposely built for its operation.

The statement also quoted Abimbola Akinajo, managing director of LAMATA, as saying that the completion of the infrastructure for the first phase of the project was a testimonial of the importance of public transportation to Sanwo-Olu’s development agenda.