More than two years after the Federal Government granted Lagos’ request seeking the Right of Way (RoW) for the proposed $2.5 billion Red Line rail, the state government is yet to fully pull through with investors and operators to get the project started.
The red line proposed as Public Private Partnership (PPP) is one of the six rail lines and one metro line designed to revolutionise public transportation system in Nigeria’s economic hub. The six rail lines are encapsulated in the state’s transportation master plan, developed by Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).
Others rail captured in the master plan include Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple, Brown and Orange lines, to connect different parts of the state when developed and become operational.
An official confirmed to BusinessDay on Wednesday that the government was yet to secure the full commitment of investors and operators in the Red Line rail, as “discussions are ongoing with investors in the project, but not yet concluded. That’s all I can tell you,” said the official, who craved anonymity.
Another official whose office is involved in the implementation of the transport master plans incorporating rail, BRT and the waterway, in response to BusinessDay’s enquiries, said, “I have nothing for now to tell you on the Red Line system.”
The Red Line is planned to be accommodated in the existing Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) corridor. It is a 30km rail that will run between Agbado and Marina. The rail is designed to begin as a double line at Marina and runs through Ebute Ero ending at Iddo. It then runs northwards via a reverse curve to reach Ebute Metta. The line runs straight to Yaba, Mushin and Oshodi before reaching Ikeja.
At the Ikeja station, the Red line will be linked to the line from the international and domestic airport terminal. From Ikeja, a single line will run to the airport terminals. The Red line moves as a double line further northwards from Ikeja to pass through Agege, Iju and finally reaches Agbado.
It is expected to be a major boost to the Lagos transportation system especially on Agbado-Iddo route where passengers are seen daily hanging on moving trains due to the shortage of transportation facilities to meet the growing demand of the people. It is estimated that the line will move about 1.8 million people daily.
Dayo Mobereola, former managing director of LAMATA and immediate past transport commissioner in the state, while in office, had blamed the delay in the project on the right of way.
“The right of way for the red line rail belongs to the Federal Government because it is running through the NRC corridor. It took four and half years to secure the right of way. The good news however is that the right of way has been signed and we’re in discussion with the would-be operators. That route is very important to us as a government. It is proposed as Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) project.”
Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, in 2015 granted the right of way request by the Lagos State government for the project.
Olusegun Aganga, former minister of Industry, Trade and Investment under the Jonathan administration had said the project has the capacity to generate 5,000 and over 10, 000 direct and indirect jobs respectively. “People commuting from Agbado to Marina and Iddo and other places will save four to five hours of productive time,” Aganga said.
JOSHUA BASSEY
