- says Blue line is 90 percent completed
- First quarter 2023 deadline irreversible
- Govt will buy additional two sets of four train coaches in September
Published By News Editor
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the Blue Line rail will run on Electric Motor Unit (EMU) locomotive engines.
To this end, the governor said, electric cables are already being run on the rail tracks to power the rail system when it begins operations.
The governor disclosed this on Sunday when he paid a routine inspection visit to the site.
He said there is need for massive public sensitization and awareness on the project to warn citizens to keep off the train lines and ensure they don’t walk on it. He said some of the cabling are already being vandalised, which he said have already been noticed in some section of the project.
Sanwo-Olu also reassured residents that the State Government is on track with its efforts to complete works on both the Blue and Red lines rail projects, which are intra-city, to deepen the intermodal transportation system.
He said work on the Blue Line rail project was at 90 per cent completion as contractors were working seven days a week so that Lagosians would ride a train on the rail by the first quarter of 2023.
The governor gave the reassurance while speaking to journalists at the Marina Train Station after about three hours of inspection of ongoing works on the Blue Line rail project and stations at the National Theatre Iganmu, Orile, Suru Alaba, Mile 2 and Marina axis of the state.
Sanwo-Olu inspected the Blue line rail project alongside some of his cabinet members, top officials of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and the contractors handling the project, moved from the National Arts Theatre train station on a construction track to Orile Iganmu, Alaba and Mile 2 stations to inspect the four train stations on the Blue line rail.
The Governor after riding back to the National Arts Theatre station on a construction track also inspected a new four-coach train, which according to him, is a typical train that will be used on the blue line.
He also disclosed the Lagos State Government’s plan to bringing additional two sets of four-train coaches from China between September and October, adding that adequate security would be put in place at every train station and platform with the use of CCTV.
“This is the first time I am taking you on the blue line to see where we are. The first phase of the Blue line rail project starts from Mile 2 and terminates at Marina. Marina Station is an elevated station and it stretches out to outer Marina and terminates close to the Governor’s residence. At the end of the station, you could see that the track is broken into two bridges. The backtrack is for parking.
“We are happy that the contractors are working seven days a week. The major aspect apart from the Marina Station is a sea crossing from Eko Bridge to join the outer Marina. They would finish it in about three months. And by the time we will be coming back in July, the concrete construction should have been completed.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu while condemning the level of vandalism along the rail corridors warned perpetrators to desist from such evil acts. He said the government would go after companies that purchased vandalised rail tracks infrastructure, adding that culprits will be traced and made to face the wrath of the law.