The Lagos State Government says it will begin commercial operations on the Blue Line Rail on Monday, September 4, 2023.

The Managing Director of the Lagos State Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Abimbola Akinajo, made this known at a press briefing and test running of the train with newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday, August 30.

Akinajo said with a feasibility study, the train system would be conveying 175,000 passengers on a daily basis.

She said though the commercial operations would have begun in the first quarter of 2023, it was delayed to ensure that all modalities were in place.

The LAMATA boss said: “We are here to say that we are completely ready in terms of all operational infrastructure. The reason that we have been delayed is due to the fact that our power provision was delayed.

“So we are here to say that we are going to start commercial operations in all of the time that we had completed the civil infrastructure.”

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Akinajo stated that LAMATA had constantly been carrying passengers because it was testing to ensure that the interface between the infrastructure and all of the work that had been done was syncing excellently well.

She said on September 4, commercial operations would begin by 9:00 a.m., with Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the first passenger.

Akinajo said after Monday, the rail operations would begin by 6:30 a.m. till 10:00 p.m. on a daily basis.

The LAMATA boss stated that the train service, which would run from Mile 2 to Marina, would run 12 trips on a daily basis for a period of two weeks, saying the service would gradually increase.

She added: “We will be stopping at every station. So, this is a terminal station, Mile 2 is a terminal station.

“At Marina and Mile 2, the trains will be stopping for no more than five minutes. This is a metro service. So this is not one that you can be wandering to come on.

“We will be working according to a timetable. That timetable will be available on LAMATA’s website, that timetable will also be available at every station.

“When the train gets into any station, it will stop for no more than 90 seconds. So, you need to know, and this is it, for us to understand that it is a scheduled service.”

She said the Blue Line Rail service has five stations which comprise Marina, National Theatre, Orile-Iganmu, Alaba, and Mile 2.

Akinajo urged passengers to get their cowry cards ready and top them up for the train service, saying that is the means of payment for its use.

The LAMATA boss stated that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police has deployed police officers to work with them, adding that passengers must not drink or eat on the train.

She said that the train fare was N750 from Marina to Mile 2, N500 from Marina to National Theatre, and N400 to Iganmu-Orile.

Akinajo said within the palliative introduced to the transport sector by Sanwo-Olu, passengers would pay N375 from Mile 2 to Marina.

The Star