Lagos Blue Rail Line to Commence Operation Monday

•To convey 175,000 passengers daily

Segun James

The Lagos Blue Line Rail System is to begin operation on Monday, the Lagos State Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) has disclosed.

Managing Director of LAMATA, Mrs. Abimbola Akinajo, who disclosed this at a press briefing yesterday, in Lagos, said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu would be joining the first commercial operation at Marina Station.

According to her, the “Governor would join the ride by 9am at Marina to kick start the operation.

“On the electrified tracks, people are not to cross on it and at the same time passengers are not eat or drink while on board of the train.

She explained that the delay in the operation since former President, Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Blue Line in January was as a result of some hitches which had been rectified.

Passengers are to pay N750 on a full journey but due to the directive of the governor of a 50 per cent reduction as a form of palliative, passengers are expected to pay N375 for now.

On daily basis, the train is to carry between 150,000 to 175,000 passengers.

Akinajo said, “There will be very first passengers on the ride. Everyone on the ride must have cowry card. For the first couple of weeks, we will be having 12 trips.

“We will be gradually increasing the operations. There will be stopping at every station from Marina to Mile 2. The stopping will be under 90 seconds and there will be a timetable.

“You need to understand the schedules. You need to catch up at the station at least one minute before train arrives, we will stop at every station because it is metro line. You can do the journey up to Mile 2 which is the terminal station for now.

“Please, under no circumstance should you cross the tracks because they will be energised. There are steps and platforms for those who want to cross. There is no alternative to lives.”

She added that there would also be 76 trips at full operation which would start from Tuesday, September 5, from 6:30am for four sections and the evening there would be another four sections.

Akinajo, explained, to ensure safety of the commuters, three are 300 cameras at the stations and staff have been trained for this purpose.

To ensure security, she disclosed that security operatives including those with plain clothes would be on board.

Continuing, she stated, “As you know, the Blue Line was commissioned by the former President in January and at the time, we had said to you, we will start operation in March.

“Unfortunately, we did not speed up the power delivery and we finally said to you we were committed to other operations.

“So what we are here to do, to say where we are and where we are going to start commercial operation. We have been testing to ensure that the infrastructure and all the works that have been done are syncing excellently.

“So remember, this will be the first operation run by electric power. So from that perspective, we have been very meticulous at ensuring that all the issues are dealt with including the provision of the power as a form of safety and operational modalities for all the passengers.

“We are here to say that we are completely ready in terms of all operational infrastructure. The reason we had delayed was that our power provision was some how delayed. But the good news is we have all those things on ground. We will start operation.