Expectations as Lagos light rail project nears completion

• …targets 500,000 passengers daily

• …trains to arrive soon

The recent disclosure by the Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that the two decade-old blue light and red light intra-city rail project would be ready before the end of 2022 has triggered mixed reactions from experts and residents of the state, Daily Trust Saturday can report.

Many Lagosians are excited about the project, saying they are eager to see the state have the most iconic mass transit system.

Sanwo-Olu had, while inspecting the project, declared that it would be ready by the end of the year.

His declaration came as good news for members of the public, who are frustrated by the seemingly unending construction of the light rail, which has eluded no fewer than four administrations in the state. 

To show his commitment on the project, the governor, on Tuesday visited the factory of Talgo Inc, a train manufacturer in Milwaukee, the largest city in the US state of Wisconsin, to attend a ceremony ‘marking the purchase of two Series 8 trains’ for the red line project.

According to Milwaukee public radio (WPR), the two trains were originally designed for a high-speed rail line to connect Madison and Milwaukee in the US, but the Lagos State Government was able to defeat other countries competing for the trains. 

The trains are set to become part of ‘West Africa’s first operational metro system.’

The coaches are exclusively designed for passengers’ comfort with sufficient leg room.

“I am sending my congratulations to the governor of Lagos State in Nigeria, but also a little disappointed that we missed out on the opportunity to have those train sets operating here in Milwaukee and Wisconsin,” the WPR quoted Cavalier Johnson, the acting Milwaukee mayor as saying. 

Governor Sanwo-Olu said, “We hope the purchase of the trains would be the beginning of a mutually beneficial business relationship. Providing jobs for our people is what we are doing. It is about ensuring that we can build our economy as people can move from one location to another and businesses can grow.”

The idea of a metro line for Lagos State was conceived and initiated by the first civilian governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande (1979-1983). He died last year.

When Jakande initiated the metro line in 1983, it was meant to be delivered in 1986, with all the paper works done while the contractor was ready to be mobilised to site. However, the project was yet to begin when the military coup headed by the then Major-General Muhammadu Buhari struck; hence it was truncated.

Since then, the dream has been elusive, but Governor Sanwo-Olu has vowed to deliver two phases of the project before the end of his administration.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that the project has been colour-coded in different phases, comprising the Blue Line (Mile 2 to Marina); Red Line (Agbado to Marina); Purple Line (Redeem to Ojo); Yellow Line (Otta to Iddo); Brown Line (Mile 12 to Marina); Orange Line (Redeem to Marina) and Green Line (Marina to Lekki).The construction of the Blue Line, which covers 27 kilometers, started during the administration of former Governor Babatunde Fashola and is being handled by the China Civil Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC).

The contract includes the fundamental design and development of the rail infrastructure, while the construction is also being done in phases. The first phase includes the National Theatre to Mile 2 section and the second involves the Mile 2 to Okokomaiko. 

From 2011 when the project was to be completed, the date has continued to drag. On assumption of office in 2015, former Governor Akinmunmi Ambode promised that the project would be delivered in 2016, but this was never achieved.

In 2019 when Sanwo-Olu was handed the baton, he assured that it would be ready in the last quarter of 2022.

“Our promise on the blue and the red line is still on course. We believe that before the end of this year we will see the trains on top of the tracks. That is our commitment, and we will begin to monitor and check ourselves.

“It is a landmark project that we are truly proud of. Our contractors are very committed; and they have assured us that whatever it takes they will complete all the projects on schedule and on budget,” the governor said while inspecting the project early in January

Daily Trust Saturday reports that the state government, in a bid to fast-track the completion of the project, has closed several arterial roads, a decision that has come with great inconvenience to the people and worsened traffic gridlock across the state.

At the Ikeja train station, it was learnt that the contractor has gone far in building the overpass in that axis.

Similarly, the state government partially closed the Murtala Muhammad Road in Yaba, all in a bid to remove any encumbrance on the project.

The commissioner for transportation, Dr Frederic Oladehinde, in a chat with Daily Trust Saturday, assured that the project would be delivered this year as promised by the governor, explaining that this is responsible for the various diversions across the state.

“We will do our best to move traffic seamlessly from one point to another. And we are doing everything possible to finish the project as soon as possible,” he said.

It was learnt that the state is in partnership with the federal Government through the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to drive the rail project.

A senior NRC official who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the matter said the corporation was being carried along.

“Yes, we have a partnership with the state government and they are cooperating with us. We are also cooperating with them. I can confirm to you that part of our tracks would be used for the project,” the official said.

Speaking on the project, Professor Samuel Odewunmi of the School of Transport and Logistics, Lagos State University, said, “Light rail is part of the transport system we need. It is not going to be difficult because the red corridor he thinks he would finish is in alignment with an earlier one. Those lines are already there. They just partnered with the federal government, so it is possible if they are committed.

“If you have four good lanes with proper laying there is hardly any area you will get traffic gridlock, especially on the main arteries and corridor. But it is too late now to say such things.” 

A former president of the Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers (NISEs), Victor Oyenuga, also said the state urgently desired a mass transit system.

“The issue is that without a proper mass transit system there can’t be a city. Lagos is the only city without a mass transit system. When we are talking of mass transit, we are talking of a vehicle that will carry 500 people at a time, not Molue.

“Any place without a rail system is not a city. This rail project is long overdue.”

On his part, a former chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Ikeja branch, Akin Akintola, is concerned about the level of involvement of indigenous engineers and other professionals in the project.

He said, “Who has the master plan? Who have they shown it to? They are the ones who have the knife and the yam, so anything they tell us we take it, which is contradictory to what is supposed to be the norm. The norm is to put up a board, tell us that this project will take six years or so, and when it is not done, we query you. It can be till infinity.

“Most projects have been turned into a process, a production line, which does not have an end. A project always has a timeline, from beginning to the end, but theirs doesn’t have. This regime will start and another will take it up. If they see it as a cash cow they will continue to milk us.”

Residents express mixed feelings

A resident of Ilasan Housing Estate, Lekki, Kazeem Sulaiman, said the light rail would ease the traffic congestion being faced by motorists on the Alagbado, Okokomaiko and Apapa axis because passengers would find it as an alternative means of transportation.

He said most countries were rated as developed because of the availability of projects in major cities, adding that the rail project would add more to the rank of Lagos as the best city in Africa.

“I pray the project is completed in the fourth quarter as the contractor promised. It will make other states add it to their infrastructural projects,” he said.

Mr Abiodun Oluyinka, a resident of Jibowu, Yaba, said the completion of the Red Blue line in the fourth quarter was not certain as the Lagos State Government has many uncompleted projects at hand.