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Lagos Red Line Rail Project Nears Completion
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos State Government has assured residents that the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT), also known as the red line project, would be completed soon.
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Gboyega Akosile, said the transport infrastructure being developed by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) will have the capacity to transport over 500,000 passengers daily when it becomes operational in the first quarter of next year.
The Lagos red line rail will traverse on the standard gauge from Agbado to Oyingbo, in the first phase, while terminating at Iddo in the second phase. It has eight stations and it is expected to reduce travel by over two hours.
Mr Sanwo-Olu, joined on the project tour by the Deputy Governor, Mr Obafemi Hamzat, and members of the cabinet, first stopped at the multi-level Agege Terminal, where he inspected completion work on the facility.
The Agege Red Line terminal shares the same yard with Babatunde Raji Fashola Station built by the federal government but stands about 300 metres apart.
The Governor also inspected the staff quarters built by the Lagos Government for the railway workers in employment by the federal government.
Mr Sanwo-Olu, thereafter, led the team to the iconic Ikeja Station of the Red Line, where 80 per cent of the civil work had been complete where he checked the progress of the overpass being constructed on the Awolowo Way axis to ensure non-interference of vehicular movement on the rail passageway.
The Governor stopped at Mushin terminal, to inspect the station and overpass, which stretches between Kayode and Ogunmokun streets, being developed there, before proceeding to Yaba and Oyingbo stations.
After the exercise that lasted for four hours, Mr Sanwo-Olu expressed satisfaction on the quality of the work done, disclosing that most of the difficult tasks had been completed.
The entire construction, the Governor said, has moved into the finishing phase in which precast beams and other concrete fittings are being coupled to the constructed structures.
He said: “The Red Line is a project conceived and started by our Government, which will be delivered in the lifetime of this administration. We have given our commitment to ensure the project is completed by the end of this year as promised. This is our fourth inspection trip on this project within the year alone and each time we come, there is significant progress that the contractor achieves along the rail corridor.
“Along the rail corridor, there is massive regeneration that is taking place and we have paid an extensive amount in terms of compensation, far more than anyone else, for those affected by the construction activities. That is why we don’t have problems with members of the communities on this corridor. After inspecting the Agege station, we went on to check the Ikeja terminal, which happens to be the iconic station of the Red Line. Its size is almost about the size of three football fields together.
“As we have seen, all the stations inspected are at the roof level, moving into the completion stage. The civil work has been completed, it’s just the finishing job we are doing at the moment. All the activities are on schedule and we are hoping the best entire project will be completed by the end of the year. There are places that were particularly challenging for the contractor to do drilling due to high vehicular density. All the challenges have been overcome; what is left is concrete in-situ and placing of precast beams.”
Mr Sanwo-Olu said the construction work on the overpasses was at different stages of completion but assured that all work would be done by December.
He said the work on the bridge on Awolowo Way onto Agege Motor Road and inward Mongoro Bus Stop remained on track and would finish by the end of October.
Mr Sanwo-Olu said the Mushin overpass, which crosses from Kayode Street at Ikorodu Road to Agege Motor Road in Mushin, and the one at Yaba from Tejuosho exiting onto Murtala Muhammed Road would be completed by November.
To eliminate human interference with the rail corridor, the Governor said the rail passageway would be walled off the residential areas. This, he said, would also prevent encroachment and unapproved commercial activities around the corridor.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, has been rated the worst among cities with traffic congestion in the world.
According to the traffic index released by Numbeo, a crowd-sourced global database of quality-of-life data, Lagos had a traffic index of 348.69 points to lead seven other cities surveyed on the African continent.
Other cities considered in the report were Nairobi, Cairo, Pretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban all in South Africa.
Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, was second with a traffic index of 256.39 points and Cairo recorded 244.23 points.
In South Africa, Pretoria had a traffic index of 230.51 points while Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban had 211.92 points, 201.29 points, and 121.29 points respectively.
Numbeo explains that the traffic index is a composite index of time consumed in traffic due to job commute, estimation of time consumption dissatisfaction, carbon dioxide (Co2) consumption estimation in traffic, and overall inefficiencies in the traffic system.
It added that traffic subjects commuters to the mistakes of other drivers on the road.
“Due to the anxiety that characterises most traffic jams, some motorists display aggressive behaviour towards others. And things could escalate quickly,” the report added.
Globally, Business Post found that Lagos was the only African city in the top ten countries. In the index, Lagos was followed by Los Angeles, California, USA in second place at 344.84 points while San Jose followed with 331.12 points came in third place.
Colombo, Sri Lanka; Delhi, India; Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates occupied the fourth to seventh places with 305.13, 284.33, 283.49, and 283.43 respectively.
In the eighth spot was Kolkota in India with 272.03 points, San Francisco, also in California, USA was the ninth place with 261.64 points, while the top 10 was concluded with Guatemala City, Guatemala coming at 259.56 points.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
There seems to be trouble within the ranks of the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) as the chairman of the group, Mr Mike Ochonma, and his vice, Mr Tajudeen Adebanjo, are at loggerheads.
According to information gathered by Business Post, the two exchanged hot words a few days ago during one of their meetings in Lagos and efforts made to calm the situation were futile.
It was alleged that Mr Adebanjo wants to cause division within the association and has written letters to stakeholders in the industry in a bid to incriminate his boss.
The situation has forced the chairman of NAJA to move for the suspension of the vice chairman on the ground of gross misconduct.
It was learned that at an extraordinary meeting of the group at the National Stadium, Lagos last Friday, the umbrella body of journalists covering the motoring and auto industry passed a resolution to suspend Mr Adebanjo and then referred him to a disciplinary committee for further disciplinary action which could see him formally removed from office.
Meanwhile, Mr Ochonma has urged the auto stakeholders to remain steadfast with the association, reiterating the fact that it remains unified and would continue to work together as critical partners to the progress of the auto industry.
“As we have been doing over the years, be rest assured that as critical stakeholders of the industry, we would continue to be objective in our reportage as our different accurate and critical analyses of the auto industry’s activities will continue to help the industry to grow,” he said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigerian drivers have been assured of a better experience and safer trips by a leading ride-hailing platform, Bolt.
The company, in a statement, said it has introduced some features that will improve the safety of drivers on the platform.
It said the driver scores and driver trip sharing features further enforce its commitment to drivers’ well-being as they will give them more control over their ride performance.
The driver score feature is a transparent metric that allows drivers to better understand their in-app performance, encourages improvements in drivers’ habits and helps them aim to offer the best possible rider experience. The feature is designed to increase the quality of service, thus being at the core of a positive driver and rider experience.
The driver trip sharing feature which adds an extra layer of safety for drivers allows them to share a link with their real-time journey information. The link can be shared by Email, SMS, or via instant messaging apps and enables any third party with access to the link to track and follow the driver’s ride status and location in real-time.
The link generated with the driver trip sharing feature is valid for the current ride. Drivers must issue a new link for every ride if they feel necessary to do so. Links will remain active for up to 48 hours if a ride is not finished.
Accessing a link after the ride is finished will notify the user that the link is expired. Driver score is calculated for every last 100 trips performed by a driver. By default, a driver starts off with the maximum possible score of 100 “good” trips. This score will be decreased if the app picks up behaviour that is against good practices or harmful to the rider.
“Drivers are core to our business, so we are always innovating to improve their experience on our platform. The new features we have introduced add to our in-app customer experience and are aimed at helping drivers have more control of their Bolt rides and maximise their earnings within a safe environment.
“The driver score and driver trip sharing features are in line with the entrepreneurial desires of the drivers and improve the overall user experience of the Bolt app.
“We believe that drivers want to offer great services to riders. With the driver score feature, drivers can get constant feedback about their performance which will help them improve.
“The driver trip sharing feature on the other hand will act as a deterrent to people with potentially malicious intent against drivers on the Bolt platform. Overall, riders have the best chances of being paired with a driver who is committed to high-quality service,” the Regional Manager for Bolt in West Africa, Ms Ireoluwa Obatoki, said.
