President Muhammadu Buhari has agreed to induct into office, the Lagos Blue Rail. This induction will take place on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
This rail project will be among other legacy projects to be inaugurated by the President during his official visit to Lagos State.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had, during the completion of infrastructure ceremony on the first phase of Blue Rail Line on December 21, 2022, announced that President Buhari had graciously agreed to inaugurate the project this month of January.
The President is also expected to inaugurate the second phase of the Blue Line rail project, which will take the rail service to Okokomaiko on the Lagos-Badagry axis.
Not only that, Governor Sanwo-Olu also mentioned that President Buhari will inaugurate the first phase of the Red Line rail service which will play the Oyingbo to Agbado route on the western flank of the state, a 37-kilometre stretch which second phase is to connect Oyingbo to Marina.
The first part of this project runs from Mile 2 to Marina and it covers five stations. The line is powered by electricity through a stand-alone Independent Power Plant (IPP).
The Marina and Mile 2 stations are currently undergoing a transformation into an interchange with the help of Agence France Development (AFD).
Both train systems ware parts of the six lines under the Lagos Mass Transit Rail System (LMTR) reintroduced by the Sanwo-Olu administration in April 2021 through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Differentiated Cash Reserve Requirement (DCRR), facilitated by three banks – Fidelity Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc and Sterling Bank Plc, through a syndicated loan.
During his visit to Lagos state, President Buhari is also going to inaugurate the Lagos State Rice Milling Factory at Imota, near Ikorodu, and kick off the construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge, which China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will build as unveiled by the state government on December 30, 2022.
The Blue and Red line projects are part of the six rail lines and one mono rail, 14 Bus Rapid Transit corridors and 20 water routes, which are being massively dredged to complement massive works on the roads to improve the effective transportation system in the state, and a major part of the state’s Strategic Transportation Master Plan (STMP).
