Rail: Solution to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway gridlock - Punch Newspapers

A photo showing heavy traffic on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Credit: Daniel Ayantoye.

NIGERIA’S foremost Trunk ‘A’ highway, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, stretches 127.6 kilometres across Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states. As part of the Trans-Saharan Highway network, it connects the South-West to other parts of the country and serves as a major artery for commerce, industry and human movement. Yet recurring gridlock along the corridor has become both frightening and economically damaging. In early September, expansion joint repairs at Kara Bridge, on the outskirts of Lagos, degenerated into another episode of traffic chaos, leaving thousands of motorists stranded for hours. Such disruptions are hardly unusual. Accidents, breakdowns, roadworks and the sheer volume of traffic regularly turn sections of the expressway into parking lots, sometimes forcing commuters to spend the night on the road. The scale of traffic on the corridor makes the situation even more alarming. The Federal Ministry of Works estimates daily traffic at between 25,000 and more than 60,000 vehicles, making the expressway one of Nigeria’s busiest commercial corridors. About 200,000 commuters reportedly use the road daily, alongside hundreds of heavy-duty trucks moving cargo from the Tin Can Island and Apapa ports to destinations across the country. A corridor carrying such an enormous volume of people and freight should have rail as a major component of its transportation system. Indeed, the rapid spread of factories, warehouses, residential developments and commercial investments along the Lagos-Ibadan axis makes the case for rail even more compelling. Rail is one of the most efficient ways of moving large numbers of people and heavy freight. Around the world, it provides the backbone of mass transportation and logistics systems. India, for instance, moves millions of passengers daily on a vast rail network. Nigeria, by contrast, still moves only a fraction of its potential passenger and freight traffic by rail. The irony is that the Federal Government recognised rail’s importance in the corridor but failed to align its railway planning with the expressway’s needs. Under the Nigerian Railway Modernisation Project, a standard-gauge railway was planned as part of the 1,315-kilometre Lagos-Kano line. But rather than run alongside or closely serve the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the route was taken considerably away from the highway.See more Punch stories on Google.Add Punch on Google That was a strategic missed opportunity. A rail corridor serving the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway would provide a modern transportation backbone for the densely populated communities and rapidly expanding industrial clusters along the route. It would take a substantial volume of passengers and freight off the highway, reduce pressure on the pavement and bridges, and provide a more dependable alternative when accidents or road repairs bring traffic to a standstill. Lagos State has already recognised part of this need through its proposed Purple Line. The planned interstate urban commuter rail is expected to run from the Christopher University/Redemption City axis through Mowe, Ibafo and Magboro to the Kara Bridge area and Berger, before continuing through Ogba and Agege towards the Lagos State University postgraduate school axis. Unfortunately, the Purple Line remains at the pre-construction or conceptual planning stage. With the state understandably concentrating resources on completing the Blue and Red lines, no physical construction has commenced on the Berger-Mowe corridor. Ogun residents lament as bad road cripples businesses SDP will make Oyo LGs service centres — Gov candidate, Agboola 2027: I’ll reset Nigeria in four years – Makinde Consequently, communities along this increasingly congested axis remain almost entirely dependent on road transportation. This is no longer sustainable. Transport costs already impose a heavy burden on Nigerian businesses. The Nation has reported that transportation accounts for between 30 and 40 per cent of business expenses in Nigeria, compared with less than 10 per cent in developed economies. The consequences are reflected in the prices of food, manufactured goods and virtually everything that must be moved from one location to another. The existing Lagos-Ibadan standard-gauge railway has demonstrated the economic value of rail by providing an alternative to the congested expressway and helping to reduce logistics pressures. But its location means it cannot fully solve the transportation problems of communities and businesses clustered around the expressway itself. What is required is a complementary rail corridor that directly serves the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway axis. Such a line would not make trucks redundant. Rather, it would allow them to perform a more appropriate secondary role, handling first-mile and last-mile deliveries instead of carrying virtually everything over long distances. This would substantially reduce the destructive pressure of heavy trucks on the highway. The repeated damage to expansion joints at Kara Bridge and the Long Bridge illustrates the cost of maintaining a highway subjected to relentless heavy traffic. Moving a significant proportion of bulk freight to rail would extend the lifespan of the road infrastructure and reduce the frequency and cost of repairs. The benefits would extend beyond traffic management. Trains can haul dozens of container wagons in a single journey, making rail considerably more efficient for bulk cargo than deploying scores of trailer trucks. A well-designed freight connection would strengthen the capacity of Lagos’ ports, improve cargo evacuation and reduce the time trucks spend moving containers between the ports and inland destinations. More importantly, the system would provide another avenue for moving food and other essential commodities into and out of Lagos. With a complementary passenger and freight railway serving the corridor, the government could begin to treat the expressway not simply as a road to be continually repaired, but as part of an integrated transportation network. Lagos, Nigeria’s economic nerve centre, cannot continue to depend overwhelmingly on roads to move its people and goods. The congestion on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway transcends a traffic problem; it is an infrastructure and economic problem that requires a structural solution. That cannot be addressed by endlessly widening the road, repairing bridges and replacing expansion joints after they fail. Road expansion has its limits when population, vehicle ownership, industrial activity and freight volumes continue to grow. Rail must therefore become an integral part of the long-term solution. The Federal Government and Lagos State should revisit the rail strategy for the Lagos-Ibadan corridor, accelerate the Purple Line and examine how it can be integrated with freight infrastructure serving the ports and industrial clusters along the route. Ogun State, whose communities are experiencing some of the fastest growth along the corridor, should be an active partner. The objective should be to move as many people and as much freight as possible by rail, leaving the road to perform the functions for which it is best suited. Until this happens, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway will remain trapped in a vicious cycle of congestion, accidents, deterioration and costly repairs. Nigeria cannot continue throwing more money at the symptoms while ignoring the structural problem. Punch Editorial Board

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