At exactly 9:07 a.m. Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday entered one of the Blue Line Rail coaches to flag off the commencement of commercial operations on the Lagos intra-state train service.
Six minutes later, at 9:13 a.m., the train taxied with Sanwo-Olu, permanent secretaries, and political leaders on board.
Before entering the train, the governor gave a brief talk asking the guests and other passengers to be orderly.
Snawo-Olu’s media aide Jubril Gawat last week disclosed that the rail operations will start with 12 trips for two weeks which will be ramped up to 76 trips per day.
According to Gawat, a full journey from Marina to Mile 2 will cost N750 while zonal fares will be between N400 and N500 (for people not making the complete full trip).
He added that the transportation palliative announced by governor Sanwo-Olu will also cover the train system, meaning that the highest fare for the full trip will be N375.
As for safety measures, Gawat disclosed that there will be over 300 CCTV cameras across the whole Blue Line Rail.
He said over 30 cameras will be monitoring the tracks alone even as command and control centers will be available in all stations.
Gawat also said that plain-clothed security agents and officers of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps will ride with passengers at all times as any altercation on the train will not be tolerated.
“Vandalism will also not be tolerated,” Gawat said.
