The first section of the blue line rail project, which will run from Mile 2 (on the mainland) to Marina, was tested by the Lagos state government on Wednesday (on the island).
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, and other officials, including Obafemi Hamzat, deputy governor, and Mudashiru Obasa, speaker of the state legislature, boarded the train for a test run from the National Theatre Station to Marina.
Jubril Gawat, senior special assistant to the governor for new media, said that the train scheme is anticipated to run a cashless payment system and use the "Cowry card" e-payment system utilized by all bus rapid transit (BRT) vehicles in the state.
"Governor Jide Sanwo-arrival Olu's at the National Theatre Station of the blue line rail project (phase 1) today to signify its infrastructural completion.... the Cowry Lagos with the Touch And Pay system is already prepared to be used at the station," Gawat tweeted.
Sanwo-Olu said before the train ride that President Muhammadu Buhari will inaugurate the first phase of the project (from Marina to Mile 2) in January 2023 and concurrently launch construction of the second segment (Mile 2 to Okokomaiko).
He said that the blue line is powered by an independent power plant.
The governor noted that the purpose of the trial run is to check that everything is in order before the train begins commercial operations.
Sanwo-Olu noted that the second part of the project (the route from Mile 2 to Okoko) would also be inaugurated. The station will begin operations in January 2023 to transport 200,000 people per day, and the second phase of the project (the Mile 2 to Okoko route) will also be inaugurated. Once operations start, Touch And Pay (TAP), a Nigerian fintech business, will collect payments using Cowry Card, the state's transit payment card. The railway station has already implemented the system.
Mr Governor using the Tap and Pay Feature
As of June 2022, Cowry has over 1.7 million subscribers, $200,000 in monthly recurring income, and a monthly transaction volume of 3.5 million. TAP, founded in 2019 by Michael Oluwole and Olamide Afolabi, utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to assist businesses in many industries with payment processing.
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