Lagos slashes blue rail fare by 25%, increases trips to 72

The Lagos government has announced a 25 percent cut in the blue rail transport fare for off-peak periods.

Abimbola Akinajo, managing director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), announced the reduction in a statement on Saturday.

Akinajo said the 25 percent discount is for commuters travelling “within the off-peak period set at 10.00 am and 4.00 pm daily”.

She said the Lagos rail mass transit (LRMT) blue line would increase its number of trips from 54 to 72 per day, from August 12.

However, Akinajo said the current schedule for Sunday operations remains unchanged.

Akinajo said passengers can now travel between Marina and Mile 2 on the blue line route in just about 18 minutes from the previous travel time of 25 minutes.

According to the LAMATA boss, this means there would be a train every 18 minutes both ways — thus allowing commuters to plan their trips.

“The new train schedule is potentially expected to reduce journey times, encourage more riders to use the train system during off-peak periods and reduce transport spending,” she said.

Akinajo said the new timetables is available on the LAMATA website, stations, and social media handles.

The blue rail line started operations on September 4, 2023 — running 12 trips per day.

On October 11, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, announced that the state would temporarily shut down the blue rail line from October 14, 2023.

But the the service resumed passenger operations days after with 54 trips.