Prior to the official commissioning of the Lagos Public Railway (LMRT) Blue Line, a 13-kilometer stretch between the Marina and Mile 2, by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 24, the CEO of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, LAMATA, Engr. Ms. Abimbola Akinajo urged Lagos people to own and protect the structure and facilities provided to support railway operations. LAMATA MD offered advice while answering questions on a watched broadcast, Your View, hosted by Morayo Afolabi-Brown, on Continental TV.
She said the completion of the infrastructure was an important milestone for the Lagos State government under the leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and therefore called on the people of Lagos to protect the railway infrastructure from vandalism to avoid wasting Commonwealth investment. “I mean owning this infrastructure. let’s not destroy it If the state spends three times more than it should at one time, we will all be payers,” she said.
Akinaho urged Lagos residents not to cross the railroad tracks, and she advised them to always cross the street using the crosswalks provided. She said the warning has become urgent because the Blue Line rail line will be supplied with high voltage electricity. “Railways are electrified,” she said. Please don’t miss it. Under no circumstances should you cross the tracks. We have talked about it and we will continue to talk about it. don’t worry. Use the air bridge we provided,” he warned. Akinajo highlights the many benefits that passengers experience when traveling by subway, including comfort and travel time savings. “Our boat is fully air-conditioned.” She said. “And if you drive from mile 2 to the pier today, it will take you at least two hours. This train takes no more than 20 minutes, depending on the speed,” she says. In terms of safety, MD LAMATA ensures the safety of passengers on the Blue Line. “We always have video surveillance on every station. We also work with the Lagos Neighborhood Watch, which blends in with the crowd, collects local information and understands what people are up to.

When asked about LAMATA’s mandate, DM LAMATA said the organization is responsible for planning, implementing and managing the intermodal transport system in parallel with the country’s Strategic Transport Master Plan. Lagos State. The Lagos Blue Line is part of the consolidation of this multimodal transport system and is one of the key achievements of the transport and management component of the Lagos State Government’s T.H.E.M.E.S program.
The Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LMRT) blue line is a 27-kilometer rail system connecting Marina to Okokomaiko. Construction has been divided into two phases for ease of implementation and the completed first phase is 13km long, stretching from Marina to Mile 2, and is expected to carry around 250,000 passengers per day when it is operational. motion.
She reiterated the state government’s commitment to start passenger operations in the first phase by the end of the first quarter or first week of April 2023, and confirmed that payment for services will be is done through the Cowry Card, the same automatic fare collection. the system is used across the entire Lagos State public transport ecosystem, including on BRT and LAGFERRY buses.