Lagos Rail Project ‘ll Enhance Movement – MD

The Lagos Rail Mass Transit Project will deliver huge savings on transport cost to users, reduce vehicle emissions and improve the quality of life on completion, Managing Director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Dr Dayo Mobereola, has said.

Speaking during an inspection of the project, Dr Mobereola said the construction of the rail project underscored the seriousness the state government attaches to the comfort of the citicens in the way they move round the city for their livelibood.

The project on completion, he said, would ease the pressure on the road, reduce travel time and cost of travel within the city, reduce vehicle emissions and contribute to the quality of life of the average Lagos resident.

Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) had during his official visit to the rail construction site in November 2010 described the rail as the most impactful effort of the state government at combating Lagos untamed traffic congestion, which had adversely affected the economy and the environment.

Mabereola, who led a management team on the inspection, said the rail project was governments concrete effort at growing public transport and reducing reliance on private cars to travel to work or for leisure.

He said the rail project would create sizeable employment, noting that the project currently employs over 2,000 Nigerians and efforts are in top gear to increase the number as construction scale moves up this year.

“The BRT is currently generating more than 5,000 employments and if you look at the rail, it could generate about 50,000 jobs.

By the time the rail projects begin fully, other ancillary services would spring up and more employment opportunities would be created. So the employment generation would be enormous” Mobereola stated.

Besides, he said, the rail project on completion will shorten the travel time along the rail corridor by significant number of hours and make life much more pleasant and enjoyable, adding that all of the stress people go through now in long hours in traffic would ultimately disappear.

According to him, the completion and operation of the Blue line will ginger investors to take other rail lines going to Agbado, Redemption Camp, Sango Ota and others as captured in the state’s strategic Transport Master Plan.

The first phase of seven kilometers of the 27 kilometres with five stations is expected to be completed by 2012. The rail line would be operated by a concessionaire who would supply the coaches operate and provide the management .