By Olivia Nnorom
The Lagos State government has capped the significant progress recorded towards the completion of the highly anticipated 27-kilometre Lagos Blue Line Rail Mass Transit with the launch of the last track beam (T-beam) of the rail track.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who flagged off the engineering procedure on Wednesday at the site of the Marina Station of the rail project, said it is in furtherance to the government’s commitment towards meeting the December deadline for the Blue Line project.
Speaking at the event which was also attended by Chu Mao ming, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China, Sanwo-Olu said the development is an extension of his administration’s commitment to improving the state’s transportation system and offering the residents better choices in mass transportation.
The governor said the rail projects represented the audacity of his administration’s vision to deliver a robust integrated transit system as encapsulated in the traffic management and transportation pillar of his government’s T.H.E.M.E.S. development agenda.
The governor further disclosed that the engineering work completes a total of 1,967 piles foundation, an addition to the already completed 306 platforms, 310 piers, 267 cover beams and erection of 984 T-beams.
He added that the final T-beam launch is an indication that the state government is gradually inching towards the completion of the civil infrastructure for the first phase of the Blue Line traversing Mile 2 to Marina.
“We are not just making promises; people are beginning to see for themselves that all the milestones and the difficult tasks we are meant to achieve to ensure operation of the Blue Line are being achieved. The Marina Station, which is the iconic terminal for the Blue Line, will be completed within two-and-a-half months. I am restating here that we will formally complete this Blue Line before December 31, 2022,” the governor assured.
Speaking further, Sanwo-Olu said the two sets of the electronic monitoring unit (EMU) coaches already procured for the Blue Line operations would arrive in Lagos from China before the end of October 2022. He said the rail line would be test-run immediately after completion, while passenger movement would commence within the first quarter of 2023.
According to Sanwo-Olu, the construction of the second phase of the Blue Line project would commence after the start of operation, which would extend the rail project from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.
The governor also disclosed that talks were being held with the Ogun State government for possible extension of the rail line to Agbara.
Also speaking, Liu Wei Min,chairman of China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), the project contractor, described the event as the most significant level of the project.
He assured that the company would continue to work to meet the ultimate target in delivering the entire project with high standards and quality.
Abimbola Akinajo, managing director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), said the first 13-kilometre stretch of the Blue Line construction was divided into four phases to enable the government to fund the project from its internally generated revenue.
To get to the current status, she said the construction work experienced disturbances and delays in the relocation of submarine cables, submarine natural gas pipelines, and removal of underground shipwrecks.
“Just as we are laying the final T-beam for the rail tracks, we are also currently retrofitting the train stations at Mile 2, Alaba, Iganmu and National Theatre with light in readiness for passenger operation in the first quarter of 2023,” Akinajo added.
