NRC grants operational licences to Lagos Blue, Red lines

History was made at the weekend as the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) granted the Lagos State Government operational licences to run its two mass transit rail lines – the Blue and Red lines.

Managing Director of the NRC, Fidet Okhiria, said it was the first time since the Nigerian railway came into being in 1912 that another entity would operate train services in the country.

Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) said in a statement via its official X (formerly Twitter) account that the NRC granted a three-year operational licence to the Blue Line and a six-month temporary licence to the Red Line.

The licences were officially handed over by Okhiria to the Managing Director, LAMATA, Abimbola Akinajo, on behalf of the Lagos State Government.
LAMATA stated: “A significant milestone in Nigerian railway transportation has been recorded by the Lagos State Government as the NRC issued operational licences for Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue and Red Lines.

“The NRC granted a three-year operational licence for the Blue Line and a temporary six-month licence for the Red Line.”The statement noted that the licences were issued following nearly three years of assessment of the Blue Line’s infrastructure and operations and testing of the pre-operational capacity of the Red Line.

This comes ahead of the commencement of passenger operations on the state’s 27km first phase, from Oyingbo to Agbado with final approval pending further assessments.

Okhiria commended LAMATA’s efforts in making the mass rail transit projects a reality. He expressed confidence in the company’s ability to drive the project to success.