Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr Kayode Opeifa, has visited facilities of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) with a pledge to deepen collaboration on modern rail services.
Opeifa, who inspected the Blue Line control centre at Marina, the Independent Power Plant at Iganmu and the Red Line station at Oyingbo with LAMATA Managing Director, Abimbola Akinajo, said the NRC would adopt lessons from Lagos.
“We are here to learn from Lagos State and LAMATA in the areas of security, energy, crowd control, ticketing and frequency of operation,” he said.
He disclosed that the NRC would soon migrate payments on the narrow gauge to the Cowry Card used on Lagos trains, to “ensure seamless movement of passengers from the national rail corridor to the state service with the same system.”
Opeifa said the corporation plans to power its trains with electricity or gas within five years. “Some of our engines can use Liquefied Natural Gas. That is one of the reasons we came to see what LAMATA has done,” he explained.
Engr Akinajo said the Blue Line would mark two years of uninterrupted service on September 4, recording 98 per cent uptime and 200 days of steady power supply from the dedicated IPP.
She restated LAMATA’s commitment to intermodal transport under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES Plus agenda, adding that the agency “is willing to deepen its partnership with NRC in the overall interest of Lagosians.”
