When a train takes off at a depot in Agbado in Ogun State, the final stop will then terminate around the edge of the Lagos coast in Oyinbo. This destination means that the journey has just ended riding on the Red Line Rail. City officials anticipate they will be ready to host rides on it before March end.

The agency in charge of synchronising plans with the due date is the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) whose Managing Director is one known as Mrs Abimbola Akinajo. It was she who had the update telling Lagosians where in the clouds to look in anticipation of the imminent launch of the new rail line.

Already, commuters living in the Mile 2 corridor can enjoy faster trips when travelling on the Blue Line Rail which was commissioned by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on 4 September 2023 – the red line when it opens to the public – will provide similar comfort and relief from burdensome and congested concrete road transits.

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To show the progress that has been made, Mrs Akinajo offered a media run-through indicating quite positive milestones.

“So, the Red Line is a rail project that LAMATA is implementing on behalf of the Lagos State that goes all the way from Agbado to Marina. But in all fairness, the first phase is what we are concentrating on at the moment and that goes from Agbado to Oyingbo. So, where are we?”

Practically all the stations along the corridor are done with only one still lacking much in terms of the state of completion. With that, LAMATA pictures being able to live up to Mr Sanwo-Olu’s expectation about delivering the rail infrastructure by March.

“As promised by Mr Governor, we are supposed to be completing that infrastructure by the first quarter of 2024. I will give you a brief update on the red line – this is the first phase we are building, we are implementing eight stations.

“All those stations as a point of update are literally completed. Most of them except Yaba [are] 99.9 percent complete. Yaba at the moment is about 89 percent complete. From where we are sitting, that means that we are confident and comfortable that we will meet the deadline that Mr Governor has given us.”

What is exceptional about the train stations is their proximity to nearby bus infrastructure which allows riders to easily connect with different modes of transportation. The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority’s vision to keep the city moving has been yielding fruits.

There is a template already showing Lagosians as being largely positive and receptive to the innovations going on around them and they want to see more. If the citizens truly want to enjoy more soothing transiting infrastructure, they too have a pledge that they must keep – it is to steer totally clear from the red line rail track which is electric-powered.

By doing so, they will be ridding the authority of unneeded liabilities resulting from unsanctioned wandering and jaywalking around the tracks.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.