Lagos Metro Train Services Begins Soon

The Lagos state government has announced the arrival of two trains for its Metro Red Line rail system.

The trains arrived three months ahead of the December deadline set by the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to complete the rail line project embarked upon by the state government.

Governor Sanwo-Olu has set the first quarter of 2023 for the take-off of both the red and Blue Lines of the multi-billion naira rail project started by the administration of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola but was slowed by the Governor Akinwumi Ambode administration.

The rail project received a boost in January this year, after Governor  Sanwo-Olu disclosed that his government has purchased two trains from Talgo, a train manufacturing plant based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., for the Lagos Metro Rail project.

According to a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso,  the state government said TALGO SERIES 8 Trains acquired for the Red Line have finally arrived in Lagos, saying “The 2 Nos. Ten and Eleven Car trains which were bought from Milwaukee are here”.

Omotoso explained that it was necessary to decouple the train into 21 individual cars for effective transportation to Lagos, adding that the trains will be recoupled with the help of rolling stock Engineers from Talgo, the company that manufactured the trains in the United State of America.

He said: “The Engineers will also take the opportunity to train our local Engineers whilst they are here to equip our young people with the requisite skills. Once the recoupling is complete, the testing and commissioning will commence followed by full passenger operations in the first quarter of 2023.

“Each train can carry 1500 passengers and is expected to run on the Red Line Rail from Agbado to Oyingbo, with the journey taking less than 30 minutes.”

Meanwhile, transport analysts insist that when completed the rail system will have the capacity to transport millions of people daily, apart from reducing congestion on the ever-busy state roads, as most commuters will now prefer the train services to other modes of transportation.