Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, says the tickets of the intra-city trains which is expected to start operations by the last quarter of 2022 won’t be more than N250 per trip.
The governor made this known on Friday while featuring on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme monitored by The PUNCH.
Sanwo-Olu said the state newly acquired Talgo Intra-City Ten Coach metropolitan trains for the Lagos Red Line Metro project in line with the intermodal transport plan of the state.
According to him, the 37 km Red Line on completion, will traverse eight stations and move passengers from Agbado through Oyingbo.
The governor said his government is ramping up the completion of the ancillary infrastructure like the train stations ahead of the planned start of the intra-city train operations by end of 2022.
He said it would cost the state up to N150bn to complete the Red and Blue Lines, adding that the investment would be worth it for the movement of over 22 million Lagosians.
Sanwo-Olu said the intra-city trains would help in decongesting traffic on the road, adding that it would be affordable for Lagosians.
When asked to give a price range, he said, “N200, N250, it (train ticket) probably won’t be more than that. The fare structure will be (determined by) where you are joining and taking off but typically it won’t be more than what you are running on your regular BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) today.
“For it to be accessible, affordability is really critical for people to want to make it a better option. You can say it is quicker, instead of you staying one hour on the road, it is going to take you 20 minutes.
“So, affordability is very critical. It is certainly not going to be in thousands, like using N5,000 on. A train journey, it is nothing close that, it is still going to be in the regular N200, that is what we are looking at.”
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
