LASG Reassures Of Passenger Operations on State Owned Mass Transits Next Year

The Lagos State government has reiterated its commitment to ensure that both the red and blue rail lines of the State Rail Mass Transit currently under construction are operational come 2023.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu restated this during an inspection tour of the blue line (on Sunday, 24/4/22) designed to ease intra-city movement in realization of the State government’s plan of an Inter-modal transportation system.

Governor Sanwo-Olu who commenced the inspection tour from the National theatre Iganmu terminus via a train coach to Orile Iganmu, Alaba Suru and Mile 2 terminal frowned at the level of vandalism along the rail track.

Accompanied by some members of his cabinet, Governor Sanwo-Olu warned that any individual or company who buy rails stolen from the Lagos State rail mass transit would be traced and made to face the wrath of the law.

“We’ve installed fences, but some have also gone back and they have been broken, we are going to go back again and fix it. We are going to go to the companies that are buying these things off them and government is going to be shutting down some of those companies, it’s because there’s a market for them, that’s why people will go and vandalize/destroy barriers that have been created for safe passages, once they do not have a place where they can take these things to, maybe there would be a halt in that manner” the Governor said

Governor Sanwo-Olu who also inspected four new coaches on the blue rail line, promised that his administration would acquire two additional trains with four coaches each before the end of this year.

The Governor appealed to the media to help to sensitize Lagosians to keep off the blue rail line which will be electrified when completed.

“We’ve wired off all the alignments, these track is not like the red line which is DMU, the Blue line is EMU, Electric tracks, they are going to run on electricity and passengers or anybody whatsoever, cannot walk on them”

According to the Governor, the concrete works on the blue line is at ninety percent completion and both the red and blue rail lines would commence operations by the first quarter of next year.

Proposed in 2008, the Lagos blue rail line was originally planned to be completed in 2011, but suffered some delays due to paucity of funds and change in government.