For years it has been one of the busiest cities in the world: it is hoped that the new public transport system will improve the situation
In Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria and Africa, the first light metro line has been in operation since the beginning of September: it is called the Blue Line and is currently 13 kilometers long, although an extension to 27 kilometers is planned. The opening, which has been awaited for twelve years, is extremely important for the city, which has enormous traffic problems and is considered the busiest metropolis in the world and one of the metropolises with the worst quality of life.
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Dear Lagosians,
We started commercial operations for what we called the long-awaited Blue Line rail from Marina to Mile 2 #LagosOnTrack together.
With an initial 50% discount on all public transport fares with the Cowry Card, we are ensuring Lagos residents can move freely to… pic.twitter.com/bPGizWounU
— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) September 4, 2023
Construction of the Blue Line began in 2009 and was awarded to the Chinese company China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. forgive. However, due to funding constraints and changes in leadership at government level, there were numerous delays. It cost a total of 100 billion naira, almost 120 million euros. Under current conditions, it can carry around 150,000 passengers per day. Once completed, it is expected to carry up to 500,000 passengers and cover the route from Okokomaiko station to Lagos Marina station in 35 minutes. Currently, it can take up to three hours by car to cover the same distance.
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The Lagos administration is also working on another subway line, the Red Line, which will connect the western and eastern parts of the city: it will be 37 kilometers long and, according to the administration, will be 95 percent complete. It should be inaugurated by the end of the year.
To cushion the rise in the cost of living, the Nigerian government has decided for now to subsidize part of the cost of the new public transport system – a full ticket costs 750 naira, or about one euro. The plan could cost the government up to 1.7 billion naira every month ( 2 million euros) if the subway were to be used to capacity. The hope is that these subsidies will encourage as many residents as possible to choose public transportation over cars and find it faster and more convenient. Currently, the local government estimates that commuting citizens spend a total of 14.1 million hours in Lagos traffic every day.
“A megacity cannot function without a functioning subway line,” Adetilewa Adebajo, CEO of a city-based consulting firm, told Bloomberg. “But Lagos doesn’t just need the metro line. Being a coastal city, it also needs to develop transportation along the waterways. An integrated transport system is needed. This is the only way to alleviate traffic jams in the city.”
However, such projects, which are also necessary to reduce pollution, often encounter a degree of inefficiency. Since 2018, for example, a new train that was supposed to connect the Nigerian capital Abuja with its airport has been ready for commissioning, but is completely unused: the railway carriages are still locked in a warehouse while the government is spending the equivalent of 3.5 million euros to 50 million euros per year to repay debts with the Export-Import Bank of China. And even the Blue Line has had problems: Although the line is operational, the electrical system that will serve the tracks is not yet ready, so the subway is using diesel locomotives for now while it waits for system installation work .
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Meanwhile, traffic in Lagos has also decreased somewhat for another reason: In June, President Bola Tinubu lifted the cap on the price of gasoline that he had previously maintained, triggering a price increase for many products, starting with fuel. As a result, many people can no longer afford to travel by car: some have had to quit because the cost of travel exceeded their salary, others have started working remotely again, as they did during the lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid -19 did.
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