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Lagos acquires two new speed trains for Red Line

By Guardian Nigeria
19 January 2022   |   2:13 pm
Lagos State has acquired two new speed trains for its Red Line metro project, a 37-kilometre intracity railway system. The 330-KPH trains were sold to the state by Talgo Group, a Madrid-based manufacturer of high-speed passenger trains. "The 37km Red Line on completion will traverse eight stations and move passengers from Agbado to Oyingbo," Governor…

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. PHOTO: TWITTER/ BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU

Lagos State has acquired two new speed trains for its Red Line metro project, a 37-kilometre intracity railway system.

The 330-KPH trains were sold to the state by Talgo Group, a Madrid-based manufacturer of high-speed passenger trains.

“The 37km Red Line on completion will traverse eight stations and move passengers from Agbado to Oyingbo,” Governor Banajide Sanwo-Olu said on Wednesday.

“We are ramping up completion of the ancillary infrastructure like the train stations.”

The governor said earlier in the month that he expected the Red and 27.5km Blue Line Rail projects to commence commercial operations between the last quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.

Sanwo-Olu completed the acquisition deal of the trains at a public event inside the Milwaukee facilities of Spanish train manufacturer Talgo Incorporated in the United States, on Tuesday.

The red line will have 11 stations and when completed, it will be the first operational metro system in West Africa.

Speaking at the event, Sanwo-Olu, who was accompanied by the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde; Special Adviser to the Governor on Works, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye and Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Engr. Abimbola Akinajo, said Lagos State government is excited to complete the purchase of the two brand new trains.

He said they were in Milwaukee to see things for themselves in respect of the purchase of the trains, adding that they have inspected the trains, seen their configuration and are satisfied that they fit into the tracks of the Red line in Lagos.

“A train is not something you can just go on the shelf and pick up. We are very lucky to get brand new trains. We have seen our beautiful white and red trains. Coincidentally, the rail line is called Red Line and you can see they have given us the colour. We are just going to brand it and put up our seal there.

“We hope that this (purchase of the trains) will be the beginning of a mutually beneficial business relationship. Providing source of livelihood for our citizens is all about providing jobs for our people and that is what we are doing. It is about ensuring that we can build our economy; people can move from one location to another and businesses can grow.

“Part of what we have done in the last two and half years is to have what we call Integrated Urban Mass transportation system, where we will be using road infrastructure, waterway infrastructure and rail infrastructure so that we can move over 20 million Lagosians within and around the city,” he said.

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