Lagos procures additional rolling stock for Blue, Red Lines rail from China

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State announced on Thursday that the state government has acquired more rolling stocks for the Blue and Red lines rail systems.

Sanwo-Olu claims that the acquisition will help millions of people living in Lagos by providing additional respite. Before the year ends, the additional rolling stocks are anticipated to arrive in the state.

On Thursday, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu declared that the state government has purchased additional rolling stocks for the Blue and Red lines train systems.

According to Sanwo-Olu, the acquisition will benefit millions of Lagos residents by giving them more time off. The additional rolling stocks are expected to arrive in the state before the year ends.

Speaking on Thursday at the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) headquarters in Beijing, China, at a high-level meeting of Lagos State government officials, Sanwo-Olu reaffirmed his administration's commitment to finishing the second phase of the Blue Line rail project and kicking off the commercial operations of the Red Line rail project.

“We have made requests for additional rolling stocks for Red Line and Blue Line. That conversation is ongoing. We have started making payments and hope that because of our commitment, we will get those rolling stocks before the end of the year. It would improve the journey experience of our people. It would improve citizens’ appreciation of what the government is doing to reduce transportation pressure in a big city like Lagos.

“With the new rolling stocks, we will have a more predictable journey time; the commuters and passengers would be more committed and we will see an improvement in the quality of lives and reduction of traffic gridlocks in the city,” the governor said.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who was escorted to the meeting by a few government representatives, told the CCECC team that the red line needed to be implemented right away because his administration had promised Lagosians it would address the traffic and transportation issues they were currently facing.

He conveyed his happiness with the Red Line project's rapid advancement and hinted that commercial operations would begin as soon as the President announced. President Bola Tinubu had agreed in principle to commission the project.

“We are happy that during our tenure, we were able to complete phase one of the Blue Line and not just completing, we started its operation and now we are seeing an increase in the passenger traffic every month. We have also increased the number of trips.

“People expect a lot more from us and that is why we are committed to the phase two of the project. The work has started and we are trying to make money available for you (CCECC) to continue to push. I have said to people that within our second term, we should complete phase two of the Blue Line.

“For the Red Line, which is even more exciting for us because we started the construction during our administration; we are happy that the phase one of it is practically completed and I am happy to invite you when Mr. President Bola Tinubu, would be commissioning the Red Line. We are still hoping to commission it within this February.

“We believe the Red Line will carry more passengers than the Blue Line. The Red Line is longer and it has a lot of other infrastructure. All the bridge components that we are committed to have been completed and commissioned, with the exception of the one in Mushin.

“I want you to encourage the Federal Government to also complete their bridge components of the Red Line so that we can have a rail system that would not have any incident of traffic or interaction with vehicles or passengers and we can wall off and ensure it is a very safe rail corridor. There are a lot of interactions on the Red Line, so we need to ensure that we operate a rail corridor that is very safe for passengers, citizens and vehicular movement.

“We are also advancing conversation on the right of way at the corridor for phase two of the Red Line, which will take it based on what we are seeing to the connection of the Blue Line. That makes it a lot more functional because what it means is that passengers can hop in and hop out between the Red Line and Blue Line when phase two is completed.”