The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) has disclosed that the blue line rail system will be open for passenger operations in August 2023.
Abimbola Akinajo, the agency’s managing director, disclosed this at the LAMATA business/investor forum, according to a statement on Thursday by Kolawole Ojelabi, the authority’s corporate communication consultant.
On January 24, 2023, Nigeria’s immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the first phase of the blue line rail project in Lagos.
Prior to the inauguration, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, launched a test run of the project which is designed to run from Mile 2 (on the mainland) to Marina (on the island).
According to the statement, Akinajo said the test run activities would soon close, allowing for passenger operations to commence.
“I am happy to inform you that we are rounding off all testing processes for the commencement of full passenger operation in August this year. Details of the operations will be announced soon,” Akinajo said.
“The first phase of LRMT red line (Agbado to Oyingbo) is also nearing completion and we intend to commence testing and passenger operations about August 2023.”
The LAMATA boss said a wide range of transport infrastructure has been offered to investors for branding and out-of-homes advertising.
This, she said, was in a move to shore up revenue for the sustainability of the state’s transport network.
Akinajo said opportunities exist for investors in bus and rail advertising as well as in infrastructure such as pedestrian bridges, bus shelters, bus terminals, interchanges, and megacity bus terminals.
The managing director explained that the forum was held to call the attention of the business community to the need for a “sustainable partnership on the use of transport infrastructure for the prosperity of their businesses and for the government to earn income to strengthen transport infrastructure and provide more”.
On his part, Osa Konyeha, technical adviser on corporate and investment planning at LAMATA, said the state government was seeking investors in the development of the Abule Egba-Sango tollgate BRT corridor, a 7.6 kilometre bus route with a daily projected ridership of over 63,000 passengers.
“Also available is the Oworonsoki-Apapa BRT, a 28 kilometre route with a projected daily ridership of about 430,000 passengers,” he added.
Konyeha said the government was ready to partner with investors in the refurbishment of 300 buses that are currently non-operational and the decarbonisation of the existing fleet and transition to cleaner energy.
“In rail transportation, the government is seeking partnerships in the management of advertising and out of homes (OOH) concessions within the stations, construction, and management of multi-level car parks, skywalk bridges at Ikeja and Marina while also looking forward to concessionaires for the green and purple lines which have a combined distance of 133 kilometres,” he added.
“Investors would also have the opportunity to bid for the upgrade of bus shelters, rehabilitation and construction of the Oyingbo bus terminal, construction of Ikorodu and Maryland terminals and transport interchange facilities at Iju, Mushin, Ajah, Agege, LASU-Iba as well as Megabus terminals at Ojodu Berger, Odogunyan, Sango-Ota, Epe and Agbara.”