By Gbenga Salau
It is a record-breaking feat for Lagos State, though the commencement of intracity train service came 12 years behind schedule of the completion of the first phase of the Blue Line rail project.
Nonetheless, one month after residents of Lagos started experiencing commuting on train to complete their journey within the city state, it has been one of excitement for many residents and passengers who have been on the train, though with little nit-pick.
A ‘Jolly’ Ride For Passengers
A number of the passengers who spoke to The Guardian revealed that the trips have been lovely except in the evening, which are usually not very convenient as there are much more passengers waiting to board the train.
One of the passengers revealed that he was to join the 6:36pm trip, despite he got to the station around 6:00pm, he was made to wait for the next trip, which was 7:42pm because of the crowd at the station. “This does not help for planning which the train service ought to provide,” he said.
Ruth Benjamin said that it has been a pleasant experience as riding on the train helps her to beat the traffic in Lagos but rushing, pushing and fighting to get a seat and thereafter the coaches getting jam-packed has been discouraging for her. “We have no choice but to enter it because it really helps to beat the Lagos traffic,” Benjamin said.
Sharing her experience, Chidimma Onyekwe said that the arrival of the train service has really eased her movement to work and back home, aside reducing what she spent on commuting as well as stress and time. He however implored the state government to increase the number of trips.
For Kemi Jesugo, the ambience of the blue rail is perfect and excellent, noting that with the train, the journey is fast, stress-less at a fair price.
Jesugo noted that because of the high patronage that the train service has attracted, many passengers were usually standing on the trips. “For me, I do not like standing which means more coaches are needed. Obviously, the patronage is there, and the people really need the service.
“At the Marina Terminal, there are less Lagos Ride vehicles. So, getting vehicle to convey individuals to their various destinations is always difficult, simply because the terminal is at the outskirt of CMS Bus Stop, where commercial vehicles are easily available. This has made me to stop using the train. This is because after waiting I often end up using bike as a last option to connect my office in Ikoyi, which is risky and expensive, in order to meet up with my resumption time.”
On his part, Philip Damilare said that the ride from Mile 2 to Marina is usually seamless, but that cannot be said of Marina to Mile 2 because of the disorderliness involved in getting into the train.
“The experience has been great avoiding the traffic from Marina to Mile 2. The train waiting time should be expanded. This will prevent commuters from waiting/queuing at the door, as it will give enough time for those that want to alight from the train to do so and those that want to board can then be granted access to clock in. Also, the carrying capacity of the train should be adhered to instead of having it overloaded for evening trips during the week,” Damilare said.
Timelines And How It All Began
Although commercial operation started on the train September 4, it was a marathon to that finishing line. The Blue Rail Line project was conceived as an alternative form of intra-city commuting. Specifically, it was to move the state away from the mono-transportation mode, which it has been noted for. With a population of over 20 million residents, the state has become synonymous with chaotic traffic situations.
In responding to the challenge, the state government considered an intermodal transportation system, through the development of a light rail network resuscitated by former governor, now President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, in the early 2000s, created the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).
LAMATA designed a 30-year Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP), which captures extensively the future of transportation in the state through an integrated Mass Transit Programme for road, rail, and water transport service, and effective traffic management.
A formal announcement of its construction was made in December 2003, after an earlier attempt by the late Lateef Jakande administration failed to materialise. The initial $135m proposal for the project was part of the Greater Lagos Urban Transportation Project, which was to be implemented by the LAMATA.
In 2008, LAMATA made progress with the rail project, focusing initially on the Blue Line, a 27km long rail project, expected to connect Okokomaiko to Marina. In April 2008, the state government approved N70b for the construction of the Okokomaiko-Iddo-Marina Line, with an estimated completion date of 2011 for the first phase (from Mile 2 to Marina). However, the project suffered many delays.
The initial 2011 completion date was moved to 2013. Despite the additional two years, the project was still-born that year. When the state government sensed that it could not deliver the project in 2013, it shifted the goal post by an additional two years, projecting the completion date for 2015, which was also not met.
On July 16, 2015, about two months after he came into office, former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode assured that he would deliver the project to Lagos residents in 12 months. That deadline fell. In July 2016, five months after he promised to deliver the project in 12 months, he shifted the goalpost, saying it would be completed in December 2016. But in November 2016, the governor made another volte-face saying it would now be completed before the end of 2019.
With Ambode failing to get a second term, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who took over from him continued playing the old, familiar tune. On December 17, 2019, Sanwo-Olu, who led members of the State Executive Council to inspect the five-kilometre-long continuous beam bridge, constructed from Iganmu to Marina, promised to complete the project in 2020, but he never did.
But mid-2020, exactly on May 27, the immediate past Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, at the year 2020 Ministerial Press Briefing in commemoration of Sanwo-Olu’s first year in office, said that the state government had reset the completion date to 2022.
The commissioner’s position was re-echoed by Sanwo-Olu on September 25, 2021, when he said that the 2022 deadline set for the completion of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) projects being undertaken by the Lagos State government remained sacrosanct.
By January 3, 2022, Sanwo-Olu assured that in line with his administration’s commitment to Traffic Management and Transportation, the fourth quarter of 2022 completion time set for the red and blue line rail projects in the state remained sacrosanct.
On April 24, 2022, Sanwo-Olu reassured residents that the state government was on track with its efforts to complete works on both the blue and red lines rail projects, promising that Lagosians would ride a train on the rail by the first quarter of 2023. On December 21, 2022, the state government celebrated the completion of the project. This was followed up with a formal commissioning on January 22, 2023, by former President Muhammadu Buhari, while commercial operation started on September 4.
The Statistics Around Commercial Operation
At present, the train service offers 12 trips daily with passengers joining the train at any of the five stations along the 13-kilometre track. The five stations are Marina, National theatre, Orile, Alaba and Mile 2. To get on board requires having a cowry card and paying with it. Since it commenced operation, passengers have been paying 50 per cent cost of the fare as a result of the palliatives provided by the state government to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
At the commission of the project, Sanwo-Olu stated that the plan is to move about 250,000 passengers daily. However, in the last one month, over 80,000 passengers have been moved with over 350 trips completed.
A resident of Iba town, Saheed Ogunjobi, who commended the state government for the commencement of commercial operation, requested that the pace of work on the second phase Mile 2 to Okoko should be speed up so that it would not take decades like the first phase in order for residents on the axis to begin to enjoy train trips.
In a chat, the consultant, Corporate Communication, LAMATA, Mr. Kolawole Ojelabi, commenting on the experience for LAMATA managing the service since the start of commercial operations, said that the experience has been fantastic, stating that there has been huge patronage necessitating increase in trips currently offered. According to him, from Monday, train trips would be increased from 12 to 54 and ultimately, 74 trips before the end of November 2023.
He, however, claimed that the only feedback from passengers and stakeholders was the need to deploy more trains and increase the trips.
No comments:
Post a Comment