…Says construction of second phase to begin immediately after commissioning by President
Lagos state government will soon commence the operation of free ride on the just completed,Blue Line rail after it’s commissioning this month by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Governor Babajide Sanwo olu who made this known in an interview on Channels Television said the essence of the free rude is to enable people get used to it’s operation before the commencement of full commercial service.
He maintained that the free rude will take some time to be able to educate the people about it’s operations.
Said he,”We will do this for a month or two so that there is a lot of advocacy. Market women, children, civil society groups, civil servants, and other people will come in and have an experience free just so that they get to understand it and have a feel of it.
Lagos takes delivery of two new trains, sets for Blue Line-Sanwo-Olu
He explained further that Phase I of the blue line is from Mile 2 to Marina. There are five stations on that corridor; we have finished it and it is completed. We have seen the new trains and additional trains are in the ports; they are going to be cleared this week and you will see them before the end of the month. So, we are ready. It is a rail that is running on electricity, which is for climate change.
In answer to a question,he said that the running of the electric rail will not disrupt electricity supply adding, “We have IPP and it is going to be dedicated to it; air conditioning, everything. It is an intra-city train, meaning that we understand that we have load; we can carry load. It is open; you can walk in and walk out very quickly.” When Mr. President comes, we are starting Phase II immediately and Phase II is from Mile 2 all the way to Okokomiko. The beauty of that one is that it is in the middle as well; the right of way is there. It will be done quicker and faster because it is not elevated like the first one. It is at grid level, so we will finish it in no time.
The Red line for me is the one that my heart beats a lot for because of the level of infrastructure that the Red line will do and we will complete it. By the way, we got only about 147 days to May 29 this year, which is the thing that I signed with Lagosians. We will finish it in our first term. The Red line is from Oyingbo all the way to Agbado. Agbado is actually in Ogun State and we extended it because we wanted to catch all of the traffic to make it viable. It is on the old rail corridor. We build our own with Federal Government going Lagos-Ibadan. So, they will leave from Ebute-Metta, go straight to Agege, and get out of Lagos but we will start from Oyingbo. We will do Ebute Metta, Yaba, Ilupeju, Mushin, Ikeja, Agege, Ayoola Cooker, Iju, and then Agbado. It is a whole stretch.
One of the things I admire about you is putting in place fire-fighting equipment by rolling out about 62 fire trucks recently. So concerning the trains, what are the measures you have put in place for emergency interventions for the rail line?
Inside the trains themselves they have CCTV cameras. We are not going to rush to start operations next week or the next two weeks, we are going to ensure that we can carry you free of charge. We will invite Your View crew one day and you will go with other stakeholders on a free ride to experience how you embark or disembark, how to use the turnstiles, and how you use your card. You are going to feel the entire terminal. It is an experience. You come into a station terminal, it is supposed to be an experience where you have cafes and viewing centers; all of that will be installed with CCTV cameras. The tracks are going to be walled off so you don’t have anybody on the track for whatever reason. So inside the terminal buildings, there will be CCTV. They are going to have their own local security and inside the trains themselves, there will be security. You will need to show and have a turnstile to be able to go to the platforms. The platform is where you are embarking and they are elevated. All the platforms are elevated, so you need to get in, and get out. We will do this for a month or two so that there is a lot of advocacy. Market women, children, civil society groups, civil servants, and other people will come in and have an experience free just so that they get to understand it and have a feel of it.
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