The slow pace of work on the on-going Lagos-Badagry blue rail project linking Marina and Okokomaiko to meet with the set out integrated transportation initiative of Lagos state and the lack of push to deliver it on record time has been described as one of the factors piling up traffic along the corridor which has become a recurring decimal.
As at the time of filing this report, BusinessDay’s transport reporter who drives through the corridor can authoritatively report that hoodlums and destitutes have taken over the newly constructed rail terminals along the Lagos-Badagry expressway.
The goal of the rail project is to reduce traffic gridlock in the Lagos metropolis by providing additional passenger capacity along the Okokmaiko to Marina corridor to facilitate development of economic activities as well as promote the use of public transportation along the Lagos-Badagry axis.
Almost on daily basis are wailings and lamentations by road users crossing the rail corridor on account of criminals using the facilities as a resting place by day and sometimes attacking passers-by at night.
Awarded in 2009, the project, handled by the China Civil Engineering and Construction Company, CCECC, and which involves the expansion of the previous four-lane highway to ten lanes as well as a metro rail line from Orile-Iganmu to Okokomaiko, is expected to be completed in 2019.
The blue line rail project is a 27 kilometer rail road with thirteen stations from Okokomaiko to Marina is undergoing construction right in the middle of the expressway which government is currently expanding and redeveloping into a ten-lane international gateway.
It would recalled that in April 2008, the Lagos State Government approved ₦70 billion for construction of the Okokomaiko-Iddo-Marina Line, with an estimated completion date of 2011.
However, the project suffered many delays due to funding shortfalls. The opening date was revised to June 2013, then December 2016, then 2017. As of November 2016, only 16 km of the 27 km Blue Line had been completed.
The contract was awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC),[17] with advisory services being provided by CPCS Transcom Limited.
The Blue Line will run 27.5 km from Marina to Okokomaiko, with 13 stations and an end-to-end journey time of 35 minutes. It will operate over a secure and exclusive right-of-way, with no level crossings and no uncontrolled access by pedestrians or vehicles.
The route will run on the surface in the central reservation of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway between Igbo-Elerin Road (Okokomaiko) and Iganmu. The line will then be elevated from Iganmu along the south side of the expressway passing the junction with Eric Moore Road, crossing just south of the National Theatre to Iddo, then south to Lagos Island with a terminal at Marina. A Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF) will be constructed at Okokomaiko, with a track connection from the Blue Line to the depot.
A key element of the infrastructure will be a 800 meter 4-track railway bridge spanning the Lagoon from Lagos-Island to Iddo Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Treminal on the Mainland.
In the areas of investment opportunities, the blue line corridor is expected to have over 1000 station parking spaces. Opportunities exist for investors on Public Private Partnership basis through a design build operate and transfer (DBOT) model to provide parking along the whole corridor or to select a strategic group of parking locations.
There will also be commercial advertisement opportunities on rail cars and electronic digital ad displays on passenger information systems.
Electronic and print medium billboards at station platform areas and top of station buildings along the rail corridor. There are also opportunities for branded station bus stops, shelters and taxi parking ranks.
Investment opportunities also exists to develop shopping facilities for fast food, newspapers and confectionery kiosks, flower stalls, vending machines, ATM Centres and other commercial activities within station concourses, and interchange areas to take advantage of passenger movements.
MIKE OCHONMA
