The Infrastructure Bank Plc is to provide funds for the proposed $2
billion dollars Lagos Red Line Rail Project. About two million
passengers are expected to be transported daily from Alagbado to Marina
on the completion of the project,Mr. Hakeem Olopade, the bank’s
Executive Director (Projects), has announced. The Infrastructure Bank
Plc is the chief promoter and financier of the rail project.
Speaking at
the 3rd Economic Commission of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Investment
Forum in Lagos, Mr.Olopade said that the project, conceived five years
ago, would be implemented by Marina Express Consortium to ease
transportation in populated areas of Lagos. The Red Line and the ongoing
Blue Line Rail projects would converge on a “signature bridge” to link
the mainland to the Marina. The bridge is estimated to cost 200 million
dollars. Olopade said that the Red Line Rail project might be extended
to Ogun State in the future and described the project as part of the
World Bank’s sponsored study for transport infrastructure and solution
for Lagos. “The BRT, which is the Bus Rapid Transport, also came out of
that study, he said, adding: “This railway project is part of the
integrated mode of transportation from that study. “There would be seven
metro lines and the Red Line and Blue Line are the prototypes that
Lagos State has agreed to commission as a starter. “The Blue Line is
already taken by the state. The Red Line is going to be a concession
that would be run by the private sector.’’ He said that the Red Line
Rail project would be a twotype infrastructure which would cost one
billion dollars each. The executive director said that the bank, in
implementing the project, would be responsible for the fixed
infrastructure as well as the operation and maintenance. Olopade said
that one of the core objectives of the Red Line project was to provide a
world class rail system. The funds, to be coordinated by the
Infrastructure Bank, will be sourced from the local and international
markets. The bank executive identified skill and training as paramount
to the project and said that the bank was assembling a global team to
implement the project. “We also want to make sure that as we provide
training and skill services, there is a clear system of transfer
programme to ensure that within a short time, the rail would be run by
Nigerians for Nigerians.
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