The Lagos State Government has signed a major agreement with Alstom SA of France on the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) project.
According to the State Government, the Marina to Mile 2 section of the project known as the Blue Line Rail, would now be ready for passenger operation by 2022.
The deal is part of efforts by the government to rev up the multi-modal transport system in the state after a comprehensive review of the rail project, which ought to have commenced passenger operation but had been hindered by unforeseen third party issues and other challenges.
Speaking at the signing of the agreement with Alstom SA, Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Abiodun Dabiri, who signed on behalf of the State Government, said the partnership was the result of the commitment of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode towards the transformation of public transportation in the State.
Dabiri said a consortium of experts engaged by the State Government to undertake a technical due diligence on the LRMT Blue Line Project (Mile 2 – Marina) had developed a roadmap which was accepted by the State Government to bring the railway project to passenger operations.
The consortium, he said, in a final report, outlined their findings and proposed a roadmap to complete the civil infrastructure works and the Operation & Maintenance (O&M) infrastructure that will be needed for the commencement of passenger operation.
According to him, “Based on the final report submitted, the consortium of Alstom Transport SA France has been engaged for the procurement, engineering, construction, installation of Operation & Maintenance (O&M) moveable infrastructure and commissioning of railway systems towards the commencement of passenger operations for LRMT Blue Line project from Marina to Mile 2.”
While highlighting the extent of works to be carried out by Alstom SA, the LAMATA boss said for ease of implementation, the work plan had been divided into two phases, with phase one aimed at demonstrating the non-public operation of the existing rolling stock before end of second quarter of 2019.
He said, “For this purpose, a track length of about 3.0 km from Iganmu Station to National Theatre will be electrified. This operation would be done with the rolling stocks already supplied for the Blue Line project.
“This phase would allow the completion of all the preliminary works that would lead to the financing of the main works in Phase two. Phase one will be fully financed by Lagos State Government through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“Phase two, which is expected to be completed in 39 months, would entail the provision and installation of railway operations’ systems for the project from Marina to Mile 2 and the delivery of a passenger-ready Lagos Blue Rail Line by 2022.”
Responding, a Director of Alstom SA, Guy Jean-Pierre, thanked the State Government for the confidence reposed in the firm and the opportunity given to partner with the State on the Blue Line Rail project.
He assured that Alstom would work to ensure the delivery of the Blue Line to passenger operation by bringing on board required expertise and experience in rail system management.
Alstom SA is an experienced international railway systems aggregator and rolling stocks manufacturer with over 100 years of railway experience covering 60 countries.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.