The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority has announced that the infrastructure for the first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit Blue Line is completed and ready for operation.
The Consultant, Corporate Communications of LAMATA, Mr Kolawole Ojelabi, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.
Ojelabi said that the completion of the infrastructure was in fulfillment of the promise made by the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
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.
He explained that the LRMT Blue Line was one of the six rail lines and monorail prescribed for Lagos in the state’s Strategic Transport Master Plan.
According to him, the LRMT Blue Line is a 27-kilometer rail system from Marina to Okokomaiko.
Ojelabi said construction had been divided into phases for ease of implementation and is expected to move more than 500,000 passengers when the entire line was completed.
“Governor Sanwo-Olu had, while campaigning for the office of Governor, promised to complete the infrastructure for the first phase of the LRMT Blue Line and bring it to passenger operation.
“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”, he added.
Ojelabi said the rail system would be powered by electricity from an independent power plant to be purposely built for its operations.
The Managing Director of LAMATA, Mrs Abimbola Akinajo, said the completion of the infrastructure for the first phase of the LRMT Blue Line was a testimonial of the importance of public transportation to Gov. Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES agenda.