- confirms readiness for passenger operation.
The Redline train of the Lagos State Government started its first trial phase yesterday, with the Commissioner for Transportation Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi leading other key officials of the the Ministry of Transportation on the historic non-fee paying ride.
The journey, which took place between Ikeja and Agbado, marked a significant milestone in the testing process.
For the past six weeks, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) has conducted test runs without passengers, achieving a 90 percent success rate. This current phase, involving non-fee paying passengers, aims to study passenger behaviour along the corridor and provide LAMATA with valuable insights to fine-tune the operations before the official launch of passenger services.
The train arrived at Ikeja Train Station at approximately 1:19pm, with onboard passengers before making brief stops at Agege and Iju stations, and ultimately arriving at Agbado Train Station at 1:47pm. The return journey from Agbado commenced at 2:50pm, with the train reaching Ikeja at 3:19pm.
Among the key officials who joined the Commissioner on the exercise were; the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olawale Musa; the Managing Director of LAMATA, Engr. Abimbola Akinajo, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Transportation, Hon. Toyin Aremu and Directors in the Ministry of Transportation amongst others.
Sunrise News recalled that the Director of Rail Services at the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) Engr. Olasunkanmi Okusaga had last month told Nigerians that the Redline will begin test trial of the train service in August, while commercial operation will take-off in September, 2024.
The test trial which took place earlier today signified the readiness of LAMATA to commence the trial of the state’s second metroline train which is expected to carry no fewer than 500,000 passengers and process over a million passengers when it gets on full stream.
The Redline train, which runs on Diesel, is the first phase of a 27 km rain road that will run from Oyingbo to Agbado. The second phase is scheduled to commence from Oyingbo to link the Marina interchange, where the Blue line, also, presently terminates.
Lagisians are already upbeat about the commencement of full commercial operation on the Redline as it would provide viable alternative to people living along the border communities with Ogun State.
Already, under the Memorandum of Understanding between the two sister-states of Lagos and Ogun, the latter had expressed it’s willingness to also link the state with Lagos Red Line.