The race to the completion of the 27-kilometre Lagos Blue Line Rail Mass Transit has begun with the launch of the last track beam (T-beam) of the rail track yesterday.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu witnessed the historic moment and personally flagged off the engineering procedure held at the site of the iconic Marina station of the rail project.
With the laying of the final T-Beam, all difficult civil works standing in the way of the Lagos Blue Rail Line, which started in 2012, have been overcome.
The contractor – China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) – would now go ahead to set the rail tracks along the alignment and move the project to completion.
Sanwo-Olu, again committed the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and the contractor to the December deadline for the Blue Line project’s completion.
Lagos Government would be delivering two rail mass transit projects within the first term of the Sanwo-Olu administration.
The Blue Line, which traverses between Mile 2 and Marina, would be operated on Electric Motor Unit (EMU); while the 37-kilometre Red Line, from Agbado to Ebute Metta, would operate on Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
Speaking at the launch of the last T-Beam on the Blue Line, Sanwo-Olu said the achievement signposted his administration’s commitment to bringing succour to Lagosians and give them choices in mass transportation.
The governor said the rail projects represented the audacity of his administration’s vision to deliver a robust integrated transit system as encapsulated in the Traffic Management and Transportation pillar of his Government’s T.H.E.M.E.S. development agenda.
He said: “Today’s final T-beam launch indicates that we are gradually inching to the completion of the civil infrastructure for the first phase of the Blue Line traversing from Mile 2 to Marina.
“The engineering work today completes a total of 1,967 piles foundation, while we have also completed three 306 platforms, 310 piers, 267 cover beams and erection of 984 T-beams.
“We are not just making promises; people are beginning to see for themselves that all the milestones and the difficult tasks we are meant to achieve to ensure operation of the Blue Line are being achieved. The Marina Station, which is the iconic terminal for the Blue Line, will be completed within two-and-half months. I am restating here that we will formally complete this Blue Line before December 31, 2022.”
The governor said the two sets of EMU coaches already procured for the Blue Line operations would arrive in Lagos from China before the end of October.
He said the rail line would be test run immediately after completion, while passenger movement would start within the first quarter of 2023.
Sanwo-Olu said the construction of the second phase of the Blue Line project would commence after the start of operation, which would extend the rail project from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.
He said Blue Line stations would be built at Festac, Alakija, Trade Fair, Volkswagen, LASU and Okokomaiko.
The Governor disclosed that talks were being held with the Ogun State Government for possible extension of the rail line to Agbara.
He added: “The second phase of the Blue Line project will be an easy infrastructure to develop because the marked alignment for stations and tracks are largely at grid level.
“While we are at this, the Red Line is also on the way. This is a start-and-end project for our administration, with about seven stations concurrently being built. This will redefine mass transportation in Lagos.
