₦airaland Forum

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Mono Rail in Ogun State, Mr Daniel let us know.

Abiodun Bello

Ogun State Government has taken a giant step in making life more comfortable for its citizens, particularly in the area of transportation. It signed a, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a private firm, MetroRail Limited, at the weekend, to build a $450 million (about N70 billion) MonoMetro System, known as monorail.

The ground-breaking ceremony of the project, according to John Cashin, the company’s promoter and principal partner, will hold on October 1, this year.

The first phase of the project, he said, would be completed within 18 months, while commercial operation is expected to begin before then.

“The first three kilometres will be completed before then, while we will begin operation on October 1, 2010,” Cashin said.

The monorail, according to him, uses the proven suspended configuration that is a modern adaptation of the Wuppertal Schwebebhan of Germany.

It is a suspended rail technology that runs on a dedicated track at a minimum height of 10.5 metres and is as high as an eight-storey building.

Cashin said the mega station, proposed to be located at Isheri in Ogun State (a town bordering Lagos State at Berger on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway), would have a shopping mall.

It is to be equipped with a two-level car park that will take over 3,500 vehicles (1,750 per level) at a time.

It can also accommodate 27 trains.

The monorail system is fast and arguably the best means of transportation.

A director with the company, Mrs. Yetunde Fashesin-Souza, said in an interview with the Nigerian Compass that the advantages of monorail over other means of transport were almost limitless.

She said: “The beauty of our technology is that it is suspended. It is about eight-storey high. That means we are not interfacing with ground traffic and people’s movement – we are elevated.

“We are not going to knock down houses or relocate people. We are just going to meander through traffic to ensure that our rail system can give people the required services they need. We will move them from one point, comfortably, to another point regardless of the traffic congestion or people’s movement on the ground.”

She was echoed by Cashin, who said the monorail is a system of choice.

His words: “It has a lot of advantages over other means of transportation. You know the light rail runs on the ground and interfere with vehicles, people, okada and others. But we run on schedule, we don’t bump into people, vehicles and all that. So, we run on exact schedule.

“On the day it rains and the whole place is flooded, where will you rather be – in the air-conditioned train above traffic, comfortable sitting – or in a bus or car in traffic and when one vehicle breaks down in one of the two lanes now that BRT has taken the third lane, the traffic goes back a long way.”

The monorail, according to Cashin, arrives on schedule, is safe, comfortable and fast.

It has an average travel speed of 50 kilometres per hour on intra-city routes and up to 140 kilometre per hour on inter-city routes.

He said monorail is the safest means of transportation worldwide.

His words: “In traffic, light rail or ground rail cannot run on schedule, but we run on schedule. That is the first advantage. The second is safety. The monorail technology that we have brought in is the monorail of Wuppertal Schwebebhan (Schwebebhan means hanging railway or swinging railway) of Germany. It has been in operation for over 106 years (it was developed in 1897). And there was no fatality in the three accidents it has recorded.

“Light rail, which cost $50 million per mile in California, United States, takes seven per cent of fatalities in the US every year in a population of three and a half to four million metropolitan area. Lagos is four times that already.

“In Houston, they have a light rail system that is only 6.2 miles long. But they have 100 accidents a year. That is about two to three accidents a week.”

The project, according to Mrs. Fashesin-Souza is expected to cut across three states.

It will link Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, as it will extend North-ward to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, South-ward to Victoria Island in Lagos, West-ward to Sango-Ota and East-ward to Ogijo (both in Ogun) as well as the Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

When completed, the project, both Cashin and Mrs. Fashesin-Souza said, would impact positively on the country’s economy. It will also boost local commerce as trade is expected to increase along its corridor based on the facilities that MetroRail would provide.

Each station, according to the duo, is to be provided at every one and a half to two kilometres.

It could be more, depending on population.

Mrs. Fashesin-Souza said the company would employ about 10,000 workers.

“As soon as we deploy to site,” she said, “we will employ a minimum of 500 people in Ogun State, both the skilled and the unskilled. We also intend to have specialised training programmes for the technically grounded people in the system, including graduates and some undergraduates such as Industrial Training (IT) students. We have a fool-proof plan for getting our technology known and understood by Nigerians.

“We have the patent, no one else can build it, but if it is understood, we can easily get people to run it effectively. So, in the long run, we are going to employ over 10,000 people. Because our plan is to cut across states, building up to Abeokuta, Ibadan, Sagamu, Ogijo, going down to the Free Trade Zone and the Lekki area.

“So, working on all these areas, we are definitely going to employ about 10,000 people, directly or indirectly through consultants, contractor firms and other developers.

“At the same time, we are also creating opportunities for private investors in our malls, sub-contracted to people to provide some services or items needed within the operational scope of the project.”

“It is also expected to ease traffic congestion in the Lagos metropolis and the communities skirting Lagos with growing population.

“Many people will find it convenient to leave their vehicles at home and enjoy a ride in the monorail, thereby saving precious man-hour lost in gridlock daily.

“MetroRail also gave an assurance that the project would not be abandoned like many ambitious projects of its type in the country”.

Mrs. Fashesin-Souza said the project would be funded by the Ogun State Government and a consortium of leading banks across the world.

The state government, according to her, would contribute 20 per cent of the cost of the project in form of land and money where available, while the company would provide 80 per cent, including technology and management, among others.

The fund, she said, was packaged by Phoenix Financial Group.

“We have a guarantee of funds - $450 million. It was sourced for us by Phoenix Financial Group and we are more than set for the project. We are not affected by the global financial crisis because we have a consortium of investors around the world. The money is ready. We, together with the state government, just have to ensure that every other thing is ready,” she said.

I heard d Gov of Bayelsa is a personal friend Roman Abromovich, he is a staunch Chelsea supporter, he has an executive box seat in Stanford Bridge, & he badly miss home matches no wonder Bayelsa has gone to d dogs. This State should be d number spot in Naija.

What fashola said about d bridge in Otta is really a blow below d waist. It summurizes d whole Jonathan regime.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-602835.0.html#msg7705914

Mr Jang if u implement half d things listed on this thread u will have an eldorado
in your hands, anyway goodluck in d elections.

Comparing the achievements of the ACN with those of the PDP in the state, the governor said that the later failed in the delivery of the dividends of democracy. “They spent ten years trying to build a 400m bridge in Otta; and on the day that they finally came to open that bridge, instead of apologizing to Lagosians, they were fighting themselves about who was to cut the tape,” he said. “Meanwhile the road that leads to the bridge is not finished. We built Okota link bridge in 18months and it is longer than that bridge over which they were fighting. So that is what we expect them to come and talk about. Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki Expressway is their road and it is pothole ridden, the road to the biggest airport in this country. This is a national embarrassment

.”

This na word. GEJ should re-asses his style of leadership.

It is only a billionaire that can make 4th mainland bridge happen. The current crop politicians cannot and would not build this vital link road.


The following Billionaires should be able to run for Governor in Lagos if they so desire.

1. Dangote- Lives and work in Lagos, contributes more to the Lagos economy than the Kano Economy.


2. Femi Otedola – I am not too sure of his financial worth, might short-change Lagos


3. Mike Adenuga- His investments is all over Lagos, although he is from Ogun State, Lagos is where he lives and makes his money, he is not different from Tinubu.


4. Cecilia Ibru has enough investment in lagos to make her a worthwhile candidate but for her recent prosecution which  has automatically disqualify her.


5. Eratus Akingbola – Same as Ibru


6. DADDY GO – if he ever thinks of Doing Politics


7. I would think of more……………………….

Are you an indigene of Lagos state?

If not, how many generations of your family has lived in Lagos?

Please be honest

what has d indingenious lagosian got to d with my post, can d indigenious lagosian deliver a Governor in d state without d help of d " ara oke's " & other nigerians who make up 85% of lagosians.

@ here am I insisting Dangote has nothing to fear running for d Governor, yet some idiot is going on about if an Igbo man is appointed d minister for Abuja dat there would be mayhem in Abuja, is Abuja not meant to be no-mans-land, d indigenious were re-located & compensated adequately y would d north now start fighting over a northern region dat has been defunt since 1967.

@Ali harem,

That is why Abuja keeps on having that in-effective minister. They should have a mayor, & I can gurantee u in a fair election d Igbos would carry d day.

@ Alj harem

it may intrest u to know Lagos city council or colony of Lagos was once led by an Igbo man called zik all  those irrelevant litrature u posted are un-neccessary. U just want to de-enfrachise at least 16 million lagosians from exercising their rights to seek political office. Mind u d 16  million figure includes Yorubas from d countryside" awon aro oke"

The fact is if he runs don't mean d beurecrats d commisioners & house men & women would not be Yoruba's, there is a check in place, it is not as if Hausas would now dominate d house , d commisoners & all what not. He would be a gold fish iin a bowl surrounded by yoruba's and any wrong move by him he would be impeached. He has d right to run dats all I am saying.

That isn't how things work in practice though. Ultimately, you have to get people to vote for you to win. Seems pretty unlikely to me that a Hausa, Igbo or whatever running there can win.

As I said earlier. . . anybody can contest, not everyone can win.

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Running in any election is about consensus building, talking to d right people, don't be even suprise fashola might be part of d consensus, after has done his 2 terms,  he might jettison his greedy  & selfish mentorer and hook up with new forces,  Dangote if he is lucky he might head such consortium, in such a scenerio he would win hands down. Anything can happen in politics.

Knowall are you a lagos yoruba or from another state. Will you like Dangote to be the governor of your Oyo state(u grew up there from one of your posts).[quote][/quote]noting spoil, gladly