Residents in Lagos State have been given a stern warning not to cross the Blue Rail line, as the operation is scheduled to commence commercial on Monday, 4th September 2023.
It has been reported that the Lagos State Government, through the Chief Press Secretary, Mr Gboyega Akosile, issued the warning on Saturday.
Akosile took to the micro-blogging platform X, formerly Twitter, to warn that the rail line is electrified; therefore, residents are urged not to cross it but instead use the overhead bridges.
He said, “Dear Lagosians, please be reminded as we kick off the commercial operations of the Lagos Blue Line Rail transport on Monday that the rail line is electrified. Don’t cross the rail lines because it is dangerous. Use the overhead bridges that have been provided by the government. Thank you.”
Similarly, the Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, Abimbola Akinajo, also admonished residents to respect the regulations regarding the Blue Rail line to avoid any dangerous encounters.
She said, “With regards to the operations of the Blue Line in particular, we all know that we have publicised that the Blue Line is going to be an electrified rail system. If you want to cross from one side to the other, you must use the overhead bridges.
This is a necessity for all of us to understand, and we have fenced all along the alignment for the Blue Line to ensure that people do not cross it. But what we see time and again is that people go there, and they cut the fences, and they run across. We have bothered to put pedestrian crossings; there is access for people with physical challenges, and therefore, we have no reason to cross the track.”
Recall that last week, the Lagos government announced that the rail line would commence commercial operations on Monday.
The first phase of the rail line, which extends from Marina to Mile 2, has five stations in Marina, National Theatre, Iganmu, Alaba, and Orile.