Passenger operations of the Blue Metro rail will be suspended on Saturday and Sunday to switch to electricity.
The Lagos Blue metro rail will "momentarily pause" passengers' operations to switch to electricity, the state's governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said.
The governor made this known on Wednesday via his X handle.
The governor said the metro train will suspend its operations on Saturday (14 October) after the morning peak through Sunday because of the plan to increase the train trips and to ensure the safety of passengers.
"Here is an important update on our metro line. Starting Monday, October 16, 2023, we're increasing train trips on the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line from 12 to 54, with plans for 74 trips by the end of November," the governor wrote.
"To make this transition, we'll need to shut down train services on Saturday, October 14 after the morning peak service and for the entire day on Sunday, October 15, for the switch to electricity.
"This momentary pause is to ensure that your safety is our top priority."
Mr Sanwo-Olu further said the suspension of passenger operations is a "global practice to effect major changes.
"This switch to electricity will help us introduce more trips and help us serve more passengers safely."
Mr Sanwo-Olu also announced that since the launch of the first phase of the Blue Rail on 4 September, it has moved over 80,000 passengers.
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"Our goal is to surpass 150,000 daily passengers between Marina and Mile 2 in the coming months," the governor said.
Power supply
The train will run on an independent power supply - an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU), Kolawole Ojelabi, spokesperson of the state's transport agency, told PREMIUM TIMES during the commissioning of the train system in January.
The train will use the power known as the Third Rail Electrification System. It will be powered by a public power source, an Independent Power Plant (IPP) and a UPS system.
Mr Ojelabi said the essence of doing that is for the train to "run unhindered."
"If there is an outage, the UPS kicks in until when the IPP will start up, passengers will not know when this transition takes place," he said.
When asked what the train is running on currently, he said "There is an engine that is pulling it - a wagon, so that wagon is being used to test it.
When asked further if the train is currently being run on diesel, he said that "the train is currently being pulled by locomotive but that does not mean that the train is running on diesel."
