Lagos Inexperienced Line: How the $3 billion rail challenge will rework Marina to Lekki hall
The Island a part of Lagos has lengthy been stricken by the challenges of site visitors congestion, with key routes similar to Ozumba Mbadiwe, Ahmadu Bello Approach, and the Lekki-Epe Expressway usually choked with automobiles.
The fast development of the town, paired with restricted highway capability, implies that each day commutes are a wrestle for residents and companies alike.
The result’s lengthy hours spent in site visitors, compounded by frequent highway repairs and a scarcity of dependable mass transit alternate options.
In response to this urgent want for an answer, the Lagos State Authorities has unveiled the alignment for the Inexperienced Line, a $3 billion, 70-kilometre metro rail challenge designed to alleviate stress on the town’s highway community.
The plan, revealed by the Lagos Metropolitan Space Transport Authority (LAMATA), goals to attach key areas from Marina to the Lekki Free Commerce Zone, enhancing city mobility and providing a much-needed different to Lagos’ congested highways.
Understanding the proposed alignment for the Inexperienced Line
LAMATA not too long ago revealed the alignment for the 70-kilometre Inexperienced Line, that includes 17 stations. The challenge is ready to boost city connectivity and ease transport stress throughout Lagos, particularly alongside the Lekki-Epe hall.
- The road begins at Marina Station, operating eastward on an elevated observe alongside Ring Street. It crosses the 5 Cowries and Falomo bridges earlier than becoming a member of the Lekki-Epe Expressway. An elevated Civic Heart Station is deliberate south of Civic Tower.
- Previous the Lekki Toll Gate, the alignment transitions to a central at-grade observe with stations at Lekki Section 1, Freedom Approach, Jakande Market, and Chevron. After the under-construction Dr. Harris Bridge, the road rises once more, operating alongside the expressway’s northern edge by way of Ajah Flyover, the place a three-level elevated Ajah Station will sit.
- It returns to an at-grade alignment past Ajah and shifts to the roadside at Abraham Adesanya. From there, it strikes by way of Ogombo, Sangotedo, Inexperienced Springs–Lekki Campus, Lakowe, Onosa, Eleko, Ibeju, Okegun, Lekki Airport, and ends at Lekki Free Commerce Zone.
- Stations will characteristic a glossy, trendy design with green-and-white coloration schemes, pedestrian bridges, elevators, and escalators for full accessibility. The supporting infrastructure features a 23.4-hectare depot close to Sangotedo and a 15-hectare parking facility on the Lekki Free Zone.
- Trains will function in eight-car B-type units at speeds of as much as 100 km/h. With a minimal headway of three minutes, the system is anticipated to hold 35,000 passengers per hour in every course. The whole challenge is estimated to price $3 billion and might be carried out in phases.
Consultants name for higher station density to spice up Inexperienced Line utility
In analyzing the proposed station placements alongside the Lagos Inexperienced Line, consultants have raised considerations about sparse protection in key areas, similar to Victoria Island and the Lekki hall, warning that the present spacing may undermine the road’s usefulness and long-term ridership potential.
- Tonami Playman, an impartial transport researcher who research African transit techniques, famous that Victoria Island continues to be served by just one station at Civic Centre.
“I perceive the urge to save lots of price by routing the alignment alongside the creek, however this bypasses important prospects, which defeats the cost-saving motive,” he advised Nairametrics.
- Playman proposed rerouting the alignment by way of Ahmadu Bello Approach and Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, with new stations at Bonny Camp, NNPC, and Union {Bank}, areas he considers among the many most commercially energetic alongside the route.
- He careworn that having a number of stations shut collectively close to the town middle is crucial for 3 key causes: lowering overcrowding at a single terminal, chopping down on station dwell occasions that may delay operations, and increasing entry factors to spice up ridership.
- Playman additionally highlighted huge gaps between stations in Lekki and farther down the hall. He prompt infill stops at Sandfill and Maruwa in Lekki, in addition to extra stations between Chevron and Onosa at key site visitors factors like Graceland, Abijo, and Beechwood Property. These had been chosen, he famous, to fill service gaps whereas focusing on present high-traffic areas.
Though rising the station rely from 17 to 29 would lengthen end-to-end journey time from 76 to 92 minutes and add $240–$360 million to the challenge’s estimated $3 billion price, Playman maintained that the added accessibility and passenger distribution advantages are well worth the trade-off.
“If we assume for simplicity that every station can generate 20,000 riders, a 17-station plan caps ridership at 340,000. Increasing to 29 stations raises that potential to 580,000,” he mentioned.
Echoing comparable considerations, Hannah Kates—a Lekki Peninsula I resident, Head of Open Knowledge at Stears, and an city planner who beforehand labored on the New York Metropolis Division of Metropolis Planning—advised Nairametrics that the present routing by way of Victoria Island is kind of limiting.
“The station’s location alongside the creek bypasses a few of the busiest industrial and residential zones within the space. Most individuals will nonetheless have to take a bus or automobile from Civic Centre to get the place they should go, making the practice much less interesting,” she mentioned.
Kates additionally flagged that the huge spacing between stations on the Lekki axis may discourage use of the road in an space with intense each day site visitors.
“This is a crucial concern that might restrict ridership,” she added.
Different Inexperienced Line design and value considerations
Past station spacing, Playman additionally raised purple flags concerning the operational capability of the Inexperienced Line. In line with him, designing the road for 8-car B-size trains—160 metres in size—limits its long-term capability, particularly because the Blue Line already makes use of longer 10-car configurations with 200-metre platforms.
He described the choice as “short-sighted,” seemingly geared toward lowering upfront development prices. Nevertheless, he warned that “going by the inhabitants density on that hall and examples from different cities, 8-car B-size trains are going to be capability restricted.”
He referenced planning missteps in Chinese language cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the place underestimating preliminary practice capacities led to overcrowding and expensive upgrades.
“It’s prudent to plan accurately to keep away from spending extra money sooner or later,” he mentioned.
- In his view, 10-car trains are extra applicable for the Inexperienced Line, given its linear alignment and the probability of heavier crowding as most journeys are anticipated to terminate in Lagos Island or Victoria Island, leading to decrease turnover.
- Playman additional detailed that about 82% of the Inexperienced Line—practically 57 kilometres out of 70—could be constructed at-grade, together with main segments between Lekki Toll Gate and Dr. Harris Bridge and from Ogombo to the Lekki Free Commerce Zone.
- He famous that the challenge’s price—estimated at $3 billion. At 69.7km, that’s a mean price of $43 million/km or INT$ 306 million/km. A somewhat excessive price for a line that’s 82% at-grade. Ideally, at-grade rail prices round INT$ 100 million/km, elevated at INT$ 150 million/km, and underground at INT$ 250 million/km. For readability, INT$ (Worldwide {Dollars}) is a standardized forex used to regulate for variations in buying energy throughout areas, offering a extra correct world price comparability.
Playman prompt to LAMATA that as an alternative of ending the Inexperienced Line at Marina, it ought to be prolonged as a continuation of the Blue Line, which already has a station there. He defined that terminal stations in metropolis facilities usually result in operational gridlocks and that dedicating extra house in Marina for a separate terminal may restrict future high-capacity rail improvement.
Harmonizing the Inexperienced Line’s design with the Blue Line, he argued, would permit long-distance riders from Lekki to journey instantly onto the Blue Line hall with out switching trains or worsening congestion at Marina.
Extra data on the Inexperienced Line challenge
The Lagos State Authorities goals to finish the 68-kilometre Inexperienced Line of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT), stretching from Marina to the Lekki Free Zone, inside 5 years, contingent on the provision of funds.
- Not like the phased method used for the Blue and Crimson Strains, the place industrial operations commenced on the finished phases whereas development continued on the opposite, the state plans to complete your entire Inexperienced Line earlier than launching industrial operations.
- In early 2025, Lagos signed an MoU with the Federal Ministry of Finance Integrated (MOFI) to start preliminary work on the challenge.
The 2025 Federal Finances proposal consists of N146.14 billion as counterpart funding for the Inexperienced Line, managed by MOFI. With the federal finances rising from N49.74 trillion to N54.9 trillion, this funding allocation may see an extra rise.
A tripartite Contract was signed in September 2024 amongst Lagos State, MOFI, and China Harbour Engineering Firm (CHEC) to design, finance, and function the road.
Outlook
Constructing your entire route of the Inexperienced Line in full is the best choice, however its success hinges on the Lagos State Authorities’s means to safe the total $3 billion funding earlier than development begins.
- In Nigeria, initiatives are sometimes delivered in phases on account of financing constraints—a follow that slows down completion and delays the total advantages of such infrastructure. Establishing the Inexperienced Line in a single go wouldn’t solely speed up its supply but in addition unlock the total worth of the community a lot sooner.
- Cities all over the world increasing their rail techniques usually construct a number of strains directly to maximise ridership by way of the community impact. Lagos may benefit from this identical precept.
- As for disruptions, they’re inevitable. The simplest mitigation technique is velocity: decide to constructing as shortly as potential. Building schedules ought to prioritize nighttime exercise to attenuate daytime gridlock, supported by cautious planning and coordination to ease the pressure on commuters.
