Lagos Blue Rail to Begin Operations on Monday 4th Sept. 2023

The long-anticipated Lagos Blue Rail which was expected to start operation between March to August has now been rescheduled to begin operation on Monday, September 4, 2023.

This great achievement was announced on Wednesday by Mrs Abimbola Akinajo, the Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority after she was escorted by newsmen on a tour of the infrastructure at the Blue Line Terminal in Marina.

Mrs. Abimbola Akinajo stated that the Governor of Lagos State will be the first person to use the Lagos Blue Rail before any other person will be able to use the Lagos Blue Rail. Governor Sanwo-Olu will take the inaugural ride by 9 a.m. on Monday, “Mr. Governor will be our first passenger”. 

She also stated that from September 5, partial passenger operations will begin from 6.30 am to 10 am, for the morning session, while the evening session begins from 4 pm to 9.30 pm.

She stated,

• The train would run 12 trips in two schedules for now – 6.30 am to 10 am (morning peak) and 4 pm-9:30 pm (evening peak). The train will also stop for 90 seconds at each station.

• It will run 76 trips, from 5.30 am to 11 pm, when it becomes fully operational in four weeks.

• About 150,000-175,000 passengers are expected to board daily.

Also, the MD of LAMATA spoke about the cost of boarding a full trip from Marina to Mile 2 will cost N750 while short trips for passengers will cost between N400 to N500.

She also said that passengers can only access the train service via the Lagos Cowry—Akinajo also said that the 50% discount palliative placed by Governor Sanwo-Olu on all state vehicles owned by the State will also apply to the rail system. So the N750 which was earlier stated will be reduced to N375 for the duration of the palliative.

Concerning safety, the LAMATA CEO said that over 300 Close Circuit Television Cameras had been deployed across the Blue Line Rail, with over 30 cameras monitoring the rails alone. All stations also have command and control centers.

She also stated that plain cloth security agents and personnel of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps will always travel with passengers, emphasizing that offenders will be apprehended and turned over to police.

She also stated that, while the train is electric, it will run on a locomotive system for the first four weeks of operation to allow the electric system to fully charge and sync with the physical infrastructure and allow passengers to become acquainted with the system.