The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that it supported the Lagos State Blue railway line project with N60 billion to facilitate ease of business and passengers’ movement in the state.
The Director, Development and Finance, CBN, Mr Phillip Yusuf, made the disclosure during an Inspection of the Blue Rail Line, held in collaboration with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) at Marina, Lagos.
According to him, this is one of the projects the apex bank and some deposit money banks are supporting under its N1trillion DCR Intervention.
“The total amount that we have made available for this line is N60billion. We have disbursed N45 billion; there is another tranche of N15 billion due. So, we can see the progress matches the disbursement that have been made so far. This is just one of the many projects under the DCR Intervention,’’ he said.
Yusuf expressed satisfaction over work done and the solid structure being put in place.
The Managing Director, LAMATA, Mrs Abimbola Akinajo, said that the vision of the state was to ensure that the blue rail line project would be operational first quarter of 2022.
“The vision of the state is to ensure that this project will be operational in the first quarter of 2022, as we are on track. One of the major things in every project is funding and with the support we have from CBN and three other banks – Sterling, Fidelity and Access, we will ensure we meet our goal and target, which is the last quarter of 2022,” Akinajo said.
Furthermore, she said LAMATA was presently constructing the first operational phase of the blue line, adding that five stations – Mile 2, Alaba, Iganmu, National Theatre and Marina, would be constructed within the axis.
