Lagos blue rail will run on electric track, Sanwo-Olu warns

• Gives Apongbon Bridge traders three days to quit

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said the state’s blue line rail project from Okokomaiko to Marina has reached 90 per cent completion.

According to him, the contractors are working seven days a week so that the rail line would be operational by the first quarter of 2023.

He also said the blue line rail would run on electric tracks with electric motor vehicle (EMV) system and, therefore, warned citizens to keep off the track and ensure they don’t walk on it.

The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, said this on Sunday after an inspection of ongoing work on the project.

Sanwo-Olu told journalists after the inspection that the state government was on track with its efforts to complete work on both the blue and red line projects, which are intra-city, to strengthen the intermodal transportation system.

He said the Lagos State Government planned to bring two more sets of four-train coaches from China between September and October.

He added that adequate security would be put in place at every train station with the use of CCTV cameras.

“This is the first time I am taking you on the blue line to see where we are. The first phase of the blue line rail project starts from Mile 2 and terminates at Marina,” the governor was quoted as saying.

He also said, “Marina Station is an elevated station and it stretches out to outer Marina and terminates where the governor’s residence is. At the end of the station, you could see that the track is broken into two bridges; the back track is for parking.

“We are happy that the contractors are working seven days a week. The major aspect apart from the Marina Station is a sea crossing from Eko Bridge to join the outer Marina.

“They would finish it in about three months, and by the time we will come back in July, the concrete construction should have been completed.”

Sanwo-Olu also issued a three-day ultimatum to traders under the Apogbon Bridge on Lagos Island to vacate or risk demolition of the space by Wednesday this week.