By Yemi Olakitan
As part of his administration’s efforts to fight the problem of traffic congestion and lost labour hours in Lagos State transportation system, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has completed the Blue line rail project and intensified efforts on Red Line rail.
Traffic control and transportation make up the first pillar of the governor’s development programme, known as “THEMES,” along with health and the environment, as well as education and technology, all of which his government has actively promoted.
Blogger and social critic Pa Ayodele Ogunjobi on the environmental impacts and opportunities of the blue line rail project in Lagos State, said, ‘‘infrastructure projects by their very nature expands communities and generates money for both the people living in the community and the government.’’
Ogunjobi said the rail line would give opportunities to investors to provide parking lots along the rail corridors or to choose a tactical group of parking locations through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) based on a design, build, operate, and transfer (DBOT) model since the Blue Line is anticipated to have 1000 station parking spaces.
The development of railway infrastructure, according to Ogunjobi, “also has a substantial anthropogenic impact because it necessitates the extensive use of energy and material resources, whose principal adverse consequences on the environment include global warming, acidification, eutrophication, etc.’’
He added, “Although there is no denying that railroads have been essential to the country’s economic growth and are, in fact, the greenest mode of public transportation, they have, unfortunately, also come at a cost to our environment. The noise, vibrations, and volume of carbon emissions produced by railroads, which contaminate the air, land, and water and harm living things. These are the most frequent environmental complaints all over the world.’’
Rail travel is still the most environmentally beneficial mode of transportation, this was the remarks of Tajudeen Sowole, journalist and writer, in a conversation with Nature News.
‘‘Compared to cars, they emit 80% fewer gas emissions.’’ He said.
The Lagos State Government, he suggested, should make sure the rail line is carbon neutral. Everyone’s breathing will be significantly cleaner as a result, including workers, residents of the nearby neighbourhoods, and passengers.
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The second, in his words, “is lessening the effects of climate change on the system and strengthening its resistance to shifting weather patterns.
‘‘One of the important goals should be to reduce trash and increase recycling because Lagos is notorious for plastic waste which has negative impacts on our environment.
‘‘Only environmentally friendly materials should be used because they are easier to recycle, endure longer, and don’t contaminate the environment.’’
The Blue Line proposal is a 27-kilometre rail line that will connect Marina and Okokomaiko through Ijora after travelling east to Mile 2. Thirteen kilometres of train tracks were installed in the first phase, and the five stations have been finished.
The Blue line’s first phase, which has five stations at Marina, National Theatre, Orile, Suru, and Mile 2, is 13 km long. Phase two will double that distance to 27 km.
The blue line rail will carry roughly 500,000 passengers daily, with the initial phase carrying 250,000 each day.
Four coaches make up each train, and each one comfortably seats 180 people. Passengers will be able to use the system using their contactless Cowry Card, the state’s unified electronic payment system now in use for regulated ferry services and Bus Rapid Transit.
The two lines will undoubtedly have a significant impact, according to the Lagos State Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA), which also notes that they will ease traffic congestion. In the same way that they are anticipated to encourage the use of public transportation, encourage business tourism, and enhance road traffic safety, they would also boost growth, development, and the creation of jobs.
The Blue line rail will also be a replacement to about 1000 motorcycles carrying two passengers each are on Lagos roads, which successive Lagos Governments have continued to battle with.
Since the Blue line rail is a practical substitute for commercial motorcycle transportation in the state, Okada, its contribution to environmental hazards will no longer exist.
