'No more N200' - Lagos govt announces ticket price for Blue Rail Line as operation kicks off Monday

The Lagos state government has announced that the Blue Rail Line system is now ready to kick off operation.

Abimbola Akinajo, managing director of the Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA) disclosed this while speaking to journalists at the Marina terminal.

According to her, from Monday, September 4, 2023, the Blue Line rail will start commercial operations with 12 trips per day.

A trip will cost N750, BusinessDay reports.

This is higher than the proposed ticket price by Babajide Sanwo-Olu in January 2023, when ex-President Muhammdu Buhari commissioned the project. Legit.ng had reported that Sanwo-Olu assured that the train would be affordable and prices at the range of N200 and N300.

LAMATA speaks on Blue Line rail system

On the September date, Akinajo said: “We couldn’t begin operations as intended by the end of the first quarter due to unexpected issues.

Although we promised an August launch, we faced challenges in meeting that timeline."

She also revealed that the service will operate in both morning and evening phases, with continuous assessments throughout the day to ensure the trains maintain proper working conditions.

"Operating hours for the train stations will span between 6:30 am and 10:30 pm.

"The first phase would cover 13 kilometres- Marina to Mile 2 on the Lagos-Badagry corridor ."

Akinajo also added the service will adhere to a fixed timetable, available at all stations and on the LAMATA website.

Her words: “It’s a metro service, we will be working to the timetable and will be available at every station and LAMATA website.

"The train at every terminal will stop at nothing less than 90 seconds. It’s a scheduled service"