The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed that commercial operations commenced on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line this morning, Monday, December 7, 2020.
This disclosure was made public by the Special Assistant to President Buhari on Digital and New Media, Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi in a statement via his official Twitter account.
Commercial operations started on the new #LagosIbadanRail line this morning, Monday Dec 7, 2020. For now, according to the NRC, only one return trip daily, leaving Ibadan at 8am for Lagos and leaving Lagos for Ibadan at 4pm.
— Tolu Ogunlesi, MON (@toluogunlesi) December 7, 2020
Mr. Ogunlesi explained in the statement that the rail line will embark on only one return trip daily, as the departure for Ibadan from Lagos will be at 8 am, while that for Lagos from Ibadan will be at 4 pm.
He added that the rail line would not operate at capacity during the first phase of commercial operations which starts today.
Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi in the statement said, “Commercial operations started on the new LagosIbadanRail line this morning. For now, according to the NRC, only one return trip daily, leaving Ibadan at 8am for Lagos and leaving Lagos for Ibadan at 4pm.
“Speed and capacity will increase with time. Keep in mind there’s still some construction work ongoing. It likely won’t hit maximum speeds until the line fencing is completed. Sadly because of some Lagosians’ love for rail-line merchandising.”
What you should know
- The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, last week, while speaking in Abuja at the inauguration of elected members of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIoTA), disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari will commission the newly constructed Lagos-Ibadan rail line by January 2021.
- However, Mr. Amaechi said the $1.6 billion rail project has been delivered and its usage would commence before the official commissioning in January next year.
- He explained that the fare which is at par with that of the Kaduna route is a transfer cost for the delivery cost of the project, which is fair.
