, Chinese company completes first phase of light rail project in southwestern Nigeria -

Chinese company completes first phase of light rail project in southwestern Nigeria

Lagos, a state in southwest Nigeria, celebrated the end of the first phase of a 27-km electric-powered light rail project on Wednesday.

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been working on the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line project since 2010, and its finished rails cover five stations and a distance of 13 km.

The LRMT Blue Line project is the first rail line to cross Okokomaiko, a heavily inhabited area in the western portion of Lagos, and Marina, a commercial center.

It is a component of an ambitious transportation master plan that intends to meet the needs of the state as the commercial and economic center of Nigeria and one of the megacities with the highest population growth worldwide.

Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos, declared the completion of construction on the Blue Line project at a ceremony and called the occasion “historic,” noting that Lagos was the first sub-national government in West Africa to finance and deliver a rail system from the state’s balance sheet.

The achievement, according to Sanwo-Olu, was the result of “impactful reforms” made to the state’s transportation system.

With the completion of the first section of the Blue Route’s historic rail line, we are creating history today, according to Sanwo-Olu. “Now that the difficulties are behind us, we can concentrate on the advantages of this project for our people.”

The governor announced that after the first phase of the 14 kilometer long Blue Line rail project is inaugurated next month, development on the second phase will begin right away.

According to Chu Maoming, China’s general consul in Lagos, more than 2,000 Chinese and local workers collaborated to maximize the building despite numerous obstacles such challenging geology and the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Chu, significant infrastructure projects like the construction of the Nigerian railway would continue to boost the country’s economy and encourage rapid development.

The event’s keynote speaker, Zhang Zhichen, chairman of CCECC Nigeria Limited, declared that the Chinese company would uphold its commitment to “diligence, integrity, and tenacity” in the construction of its subsequent projects.

When fully operational, the LMRT Blue Line project’s first phase is anticipated to carry more than 250,000 passengers every day.

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