Empty Promises 3 Months After :  Lagos Blue Rail Mass Transit Yet To Commence Operations 

After assuring its citizens to commence operational activities of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line in the first quarter of 2023, the Babajide Sanwo Olu administration has failed to kick start rail mode transportation as the second quarter of the year begins.

The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, last year , inspected the on-going construction of the Lagos Rail Line project and said the first quarter 2023 target for commencement of operational service was sacrosanct.

Sanwo-Olu said the state was on track with its effort to complete work on both the Blue and Red lines rail projects, which are intra-city, to strengthen the intermodal transportation system.

While speaking at the Marina Station of the system after the inspection last year, Sanwo-Olu expressed satisfaction with the level of construction so far, saying additional trains are to be procured for speedy commencement.

The governor, however, warned those that had started vandalising the barricades around rail line to desist from the act, saying the tracks are hazardous.

 

It was also gathered that the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) test run the blue rail mass transit over the weekend assuring commuters to begin the operations in soonest.

But our correspondence, who visited the Alaba and Mile 2 terminals respectively, confirmed no sign of commencement soon ,even as hopes of the commuters within Ajegunle, Amuwo Odofin and Orile Iganmu were dashed.

A cross section of commuters who spoke with DAILY FOCUS NIGERIA last week , called on the government to ameliorate the hardship faced by citizens , saying the multiple road construction within the state needs alternative measures to complement road transportation.

They lamented that the blue rail mass transit will help reduce man hours along the Mile 2 -Marina corridor and will further reduce stress to and fro while on transit.

According to them, the Lagos State government should expedite actions to commence the rail project noting that expectations were very high to see the blue rail mass transit flag off in the first quarter of 2023.

“The station at Alaba terminal needs some form of sanitation and cleaning before commencement and I think security personnel should be deployed to the facilities by the state government because there are miscreants loitering the place which is not tidy for business of such kind, a business woman ,Ruth Ebi advised.

Ebi reiterated that “I don’t think this rail project will begin operations between now and June because I can see people are still working within the Alaba and Mile 2 terminals but my doubts can only be cleared when the rails come and convey passengers to Marina back and forth”.

A trader (name withheld) also lamented that some of the structures within Mile 2 and Alaba stations were taken over by hoodlum , thus launch attacks on innocent citizens mostly at night and dispossess them of their personal effects.

Meanwhile,  LAMATA has dismissed a viral video whereby four people purportedly pushing one of the train sets to be deployed for passenger operations for the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line.

LAMATA  disclosed that the train was clearly moving, and this is an old video clip showing the contractor’s staff horsing around the train when it first came.

LAMATA said ” Is in receipt of an obviously doctored video clip showing four people purportedly pushing one of the train sets to be deployed for passenger operations for the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line.

“From investigation, we discovered that the train was clearly moving, and this is an old video clip showing the contractor’s staff horsing around the train when it first came. The area now, since the commissioning by President Muhammadu Buhari, has flags all around it as well as steel protective guard. Posting this video at this time is obviously the work of mischief makers.

“The average length of the train is 84m. This, definitely, cannot be pushed by four people as shown in the video clip. We appeal to our online community to be wary of those who are bent on doing everything to discredit this rail project.

“We have successfully, without incident, carried over 15,000 people on test rides over the past six weeks.

“For those who have interacted with the rail system, it is obviously a game changer.”

 

By Roland Ekama