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13 Things You Should Know About The Lagos Blue Rail
Here are 13 things you should know about the recently commissioned Lagos Blue Rail.
President Muhammadu Buhari concluded his 2-day working visit to Lagos State after inaugurating the first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line on Tuesday, 24 January, 2023.
The President also witnessed the signing of the contract by Governor Sanwo-Olu for the construction of second phase of the Lagos Blue Line, which will cover 14 kilometers stretch from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.
Here are 13 things you should know about the Lagos Blue Rail.
1. On Tuesday, 24 January, 2023, President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the first phase of the Lagos Mass Transit Blue Line Rail Project, an electrified track that runs from Marina to Mile 2 area of the state.
2. The train network was flagged off in 2003 during the administration of an ex-governor of the state, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, nearly 20 years after the idea was first conceived by Alhaji Lateef Jakande during the Second Nigerian Republic.
3. The first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line stretches 13-kilometres from Marina to Mile 2, covering five Stations at Mile 2, Suru-Alaba, Orile Iganmu, National Theatre and Marina.
4. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has signed the contract for the construction of second phase of the Lagos Blue Line, which is expected cover 14 kilometers stretch from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.
5. The rail system is being managed by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), an agency under the Ministry of Transportation created in 2002.
6. The first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit system will transport 250,000 passengers daily. This numbers is expected to rise to 500,000 passengers daily when the entire 27km track from Marina to Okokomaiko is completed.
7. According to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, train rides from Marina to Mile 2 will take “less than 15 minutes”, a journey that usually takes an hour or more.
8. The Lagos Blue Rail Line will become fully operational in late March or the first week in April 2023 after test-runs by a “select members of the public” to “experience how to use it.”
9. Like in BRT buses, riders will be able to use the cowry card to access the train. The Lagos State Cowry transport payment card with the Touch and Pay system have already been tested and certified for use.
10. The Lagos Blue Line will use Electric Multiple Units (EMUs), which is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power.
11. According to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, the Blue Rail Line will be powered by its own electricity through a dedicated Independent Power Project (IPP) and about four power sources to avoid power outages.
12. LASG warns residents against crossing the rail tracks that will power the Blue Line high-speed electric trains as it will have as much as 750 volts passing through it, which is enough to kill or injure when stepped on it.
13. Train-fare along the Marina – Mile 2 route is yet to be announced.
