Fifteen minutes ride, 10 things you should know about the Lagos Blue Rail

The first phase of the Lagos Blue rail is sent by President Muhammadu Buhari with fanfare and a speech by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday.

The first phase of the 13-kilometer elevated railway network stretches from Marina to Mile 2.

At the event, the governor signed documents to start the second phase of the Blue rail project, which will cover a distance of 14 kilometers from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko and is expected to be completed by May.

Apart from the speech of the governor, who gave some details about the train, Kolawole Ojelabi, ANCIENT spokesperson, also spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on the fare, resources, trial run and when the train will be available for everyday Lagosians.

Since the official opening of the light rail, many Lagosians and other Nigerians have had unanswered questions about the country’s first light rail.

Here’s what you need to know about the latest infrastructure upgrade in Lagos:

1. The railway network was proposed in 1983 during the administration of Lateef Jakande and flagged off in 2003 during the administration of the former governor of the state, Bola Tinubu, 20 years later.

2. Construction is carried out by LAMATA and carried out by China Civil Engineering Construction Company, a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation.

3. The state government said that the first phase will transport 250,000 passengers per day and when completed, the entire 27km will transport around 500,000 passengers per day.

4. The first stage (Marina -Mile 2) has five stations – Marina, National Theatre, Iganmu, Alaba and Orile station.

5. Travel time: According to the state governor, it will take “only less than 15 minutes” from the Marina to Mile 2, for a trip that usually takes an hour or more.

6. Tariff: The price has not been determined. To determine the fare, certain things such as passenger movements, peak times, low times and other factors must be considered.

7. Warning: By Daily Trust newspaperThe Managing Director of LAMATA, Abimbola Akinajo, warned citizens of the country not to trespass on the railway line as it is “electrified” and advised them to use pedestrian bridges to avoid being electrocuted.

Ms Akinajo urged people to use the overhead bridge and other exits are available once the train becomes operational.

8. Testing and public use: It will be operational at the end of March or the first week of April at least, Mr. Ojelabi said. Before it becomes operational, “select members of the public” will be invited to “come and experience how to use it.”

9. Access: Once operational, riders will be able to use cowry cards to access the Train.

10. Power: The train will run on its power source – Electric Multiple Unit (EMU).

The train will use power known as the Third Rail Electrification System. It will be powered by a public power source, an Independent Power Plant (IPP) and a UPS system.

Mr. Ojelabi said the point of doing this is to keep the train “running smoothly.”

“If there is an outage, UPS kicks in until when the IPP will start up, passengers will not know when this transition takes place,” he said.

When asked if the train was running now, he said, “There is an engine that pulls it – a carriage, so the carriage is used for testing.

When asked further if the train was running on diesel, he said that “the train is being pulled by a locomotive but that doesn’t mean the train is running on diesel.”