Lagos State government acquires two high velocity trains Red Line metro project.
The fastest trains in Africa are now in Lagos as the government purchases two of it as a part of its plan to launch the Red Line metro project, a 37-kilometre intracity railway system in the state.
The Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu completed the acquisition deal on Tuesday at a public event inside the Milwaukee facilities of Spanish train manufacturer Talgo Incorporated in the United States.
The ‘Red Line’ rail is expected to commence commercial operations between the last quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. When completed, the rail network will have 11 stations and will also become the first operational metro system in West Africa designed to convey at least 500,000 passengers daily in the first phase of operation.
“The 37km Red Line on completion will traverse eight stations and move passengers from Agbado to Oyingbo,” Governor Banajide Sanwo-Olu said on Wednesday.
“We are ramping up completion of the ancillary infrastructure like the train stations.”
Commenting on the acquisition, Sanwo-Olu said the move was in line with his administration’s commitment to Traffic Management and Transportation of the THEMES developmental agenda.
“Part of what we have done in the last two and half years is to have what we call Integrated Urban Mass transportation system, where we will be using road infrastructure, waterway infrastructure and rail infrastructure so that we can move over 20 million Lagosians within and around the city,” he said.
“We hope that this (purchase of the trains) will be the beginning of a mutually beneficial business relationship. Providing a source of livelihood for our citizens is all about providing jobs for our people, and that is what we are doing. It is about ensuring that we can build our economy; people can move from one location to another, and businesses can grow.
