Lagos project shows train of thought

Since the first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit Blue Line entered into commercial operation in Nigeria's largest city last September, the electric railway has been providing passengers with a safe and speedy ride.

Built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp and funded by the Lagos state government, the 13 kilometers of track completed so far extends from Mile 2 to Marina, and covers five stations. The first phase of the Blue Line is expected to carry more than 250,000 passengers a day once it is in full operation.

As a symbolic project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the line is the first electrified railroad and cross-water light rail project in West Africa.

Its route will eventually extend 27 km from Okokomaiko, a densely populated area in the western part of Lagos, to Marina, a business district on Lagos Island. Consisting of two phases of construction, the second phase will run from Okokomaiko to Mile 2.

During the completion ceremony for the first phase last year, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, described the moment as "historic", saying that Lagos had become the first subnational government in West Africa to fund and deliver a rail system on its balance sheet.

The Blue Line is part of an ambitious transport master plan to meet the demands of Nigeria's commercial and economic hub, which is one of the world's fastest-growing megacities.

More than 2,000 Chinese and Nigerian employees worked together to optimize construction in the face of multiple challenges, including complicated geology and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Chu Maoming, China's consul general in Lagos.

Speaking at the ceremony, Zhang Zhichen, chairman of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp Nigeria Ltd, said the firm will maintain its spirit of diligence, integrity, and tenacity and will build the follow-up projects with efficiency and to similarly high level of quality.