Sanwo-Olu kick starts multi-million dollar Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line Project

Sanwo-Olu kick starts multi-million dollar Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line Project
…..To carry 450,000 passengers daily for first phase
….6000 Lagosians to be employed during construction period

By Olatunde Abatan

Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwoolu will Thursday April 15,perform the ground breaking ceremony of the second phase of the city’s rail mass transit otherwise known as Red Line.
The Lagos Rail Mass Transit,LRMT, otherwise known as Red Line, according to Kolawole Ojelabi,assistant Director of Corporate Communications of Lagos Municipal Transport Authority,LAMATA, project supervisor,will carry 450,000 passengers along the first phase from Oyingbo to Agbado when it is completed during the last quarter of 2022.
The second phase is to run from Oyingbo to Marina.
It will be recalled that the state transport ministry has since Sunday,April 11, close the Adegbola street corridor in Ikeja to pave way for the construction of fly over on which the rail will travel.
Before now,he told Newdawnngr.com in an exclusive interview online,that the LAMATA has carried out a survey and mapping out of structures to be affected, identification of their owners while the state government has commenced payment of compensation to tenants whose properties will give way for the second in the series of multiple railway metro line projects right of way .
The project is coming on the heels of the on- going construction of the Blue line which ran from Okokomaiko to Marina.
It was started by the administration of former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola in 2008 but was abandoned midway during the administration of his successor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
As of now,the Blue line is over sixty five percent completed with work now in the Marina sector.
The LAMATA director said the Red Line project has indeed started since last year with the identification of Project Affected Parties,(PAPs),verification of the PAPs and payment of compensation.
He disclosed that during the 20-month construction period,the project will give direct and indirect jobs to at least 6,000 people adding that the metro will share the same track with the standard gauge railway of the federal government on which agreement on mode of operation has been reached and signed.
Said he,”There will be nonconflict as both lines will share tracks. A memorandum of understanding have been signed in that regard”.
It will be recalled that the metro line railway projects was first started in 1981 during the first term tenure of late first civilian governor of Lagos state,Alhaji Lateef Jakande among six other of such planned for different part of Lagos to address to emergent traffic problem.
However,the project was stopped by the administration of late Governor Gbolahan Mudasiru in 1984 when the military regime of then Major General Muhammadu Buhari took over power.
No cogent reason was given then for its termination in spite of the huge transportation infrastructural deficit being faced by the government and which has assumed bigger dimension now with the increased population.
For now, Lagos, the second biggest city in Africa after Cairo,and with a population of over 20 million,is the only city in Africa with population of seven million with no metro line.
Cities like Cairo, Daaersalam capital of Tanzania and Abidjan,capital of Vote D’Ivorie hasa metro line to serve their growing population.

If completed during his tenure,Governor sanwo-Olu’s regime would have tremendously improved the growing city transportation facilities.