Lagos Government Postpones Commencement of $3bn Marina–Lekki Rail Line Construction to December
The Lagos State Government has officially announced a fresh postponement in the commencement of the $3 billion Green Line rail project, a key component of the state’s long-term transport modernization plan. The Green Line, envisioned to stretch from Marina to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, is one of the most ambitious urban rail projects in sub-Saharan Africa — a 70-kilometre artery designed to unlock new corridors of economic productivity across Lagos’ rapidly urbanizing coastal belt.
According to the statement released by the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the groundbreaking originally scheduled for late 2024 will now take place in December 2025. Osiyemi cited “final technical reviews, funding realignment, and coordination with federal coastal infrastructure projects” as key reasons for the shift. The announcement, posted on the Lagos State Government’s official X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday, underscores the complex balancing act between ambition, fiscal discipline, and the realities of execution in Africa’s largest urban economy.
When completed, the 70-kilometre Green Line will connect Marina, Lagos’ historic commercial hub, to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, which has evolved into a strategic industrial and logistics nucleus hosting the Dangote Refinery, the Lekki Deep Sea Port, and several export-oriented enterprises. The route will traverse Victoria Island, Ajah, Sangotedo, and the Lekki corridor, regions that represent both the wealth of Lagos’ private development and the growing pains of infrastructural imbalance.
The line will feature 17 stations, a mix of elevated and at-grade alignments, and will be constructed in two main phases:
Phase One: From the Lekki First Tollgate to Epe, a 30-kilometre segment that cuts through the city’s emerging residential and industrial axes.
Phase Two: From Marina to Lekki Tollgate, including an on-water bridge segment, marking one of the most technically challenging aspects of the project.
Officials emphasize that the project is more than a transit investment; it is an urban planning reformation tool. It aims to reduce travel time from Marina to Epe from over three hours during rush hours to less than 45 minutes. Beyond that, it is expected to decongest key expressways such as the Lekki-Epe Expressway and Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, which currently bear the brunt of Lagos’ notorious traffic gridlocks.
The $3 billion project is structured as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), with financing from a combination of state allocations, private equity, and concessional loans facilitated through foreign engineering firms. According to internal documents, at least $1.2 billion of the budget is earmarked for civil works, $700 million for rolling stock and signalling systems, and the remainder for land acquisition, environmental remediation, and administrative oversight.
However, sources within the Ministry of Transportation suggest that the funding window has been affected by exchange rate volatility following Nigeria’s naira devaluation and delays in disbursement from international partners. The project’s primary contractors — a consortium of Chinese and European engineering firms — reportedly requested new cost assessments to reflect current global material inflation and logistic uncertainties caused by Red Sea trade disruptions.
A senior project engineer who spoke anonymously described the delay as “a necessary recalibration rather than a setback.” He explained that “major infrastructure projects of this magnitude often undergo realignment once feasibility studies meet financial realities. The key thing is that the government remains committed to delivering it within a defined horizon.”
The Green Line is part of the Lagos Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP), a 30-year blueprint developed in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The plan envisions six major rail lines, one monorail, and multiple Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors interlinked through a unified ticketing and mobility system.
Already, Lagos has operationalized segments of the Blue Line, which runs from Marina to Mile 2, and has begun test runs for the Red Line, connecting Agbado to Oyingbo. The Green Line is expected to serve as the spine of the coastal rail system, linking economic clusters that currently rely heavily on road transport.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who has consistently described transportation as the “oxygen of Lagos’ economy,” reiterated that the project’s delay does not represent a loss of political will but an adjustment to ensure quality, safety, and financial sustainability. “We are building not just for the present, but for generations. Every phase must meet global standards,” he said during a recent infrastructure forum at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre.
While the government’s rationale emphasizes prudence, the postponement carries tangible socioeconomic implications. The Lekki corridor, home to thousands of daily commuters, has experienced worsening gridlock due to rapid real estate expansion, construction of the Dangote industrial complex, and insufficient public transport alternatives.
Commuters and developers alike express mixed reactions. For Grace Omotola, a civil servant who lives in Sangotedo but works in Marina, the announcement felt like “a familiar story of Lagos promises deferred.” “We were told by 2024 things would begin to change. Now it’s another year of waiting — another year of traffic and stress,” she lamented.
However, some analysts caution against interpreting the delay purely as failure. Urban economist Dr. Tunde Adekoya noted that “it’s better for the government to delay than to rush. Infrastructural shortcuts in a coastal city like Lagos can have catastrophic engineering and environmental consequences.” He added that the project’s marine sections, which require specialized bridge and tunnel construction, necessitate complex hydrological studies that cannot be fast-tracked.
Environmental experts have urged the state to use the delay as an opportunity to reassess ecological safeguards. The Green Line passes through flood-prone and reclaimed zones along the Lekki-Epe axis, areas increasingly vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels.
According to a 2024 report by the Nigerian Institute of Environmental Engineers, over 30% of Lekki’s low-lying zones could face annual flood exposure by 2030 if unmitigated. The report recommended that all major infrastructure projects integrate adaptive design measures such as elevated stations, improved drainage, and sustainable wetland buffers.
Commissioner Osiyemi assured the public that the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) was being updated to reflect “the new realities of climate adaptation, land-use pressures, and waste management dynamics.” He noted that the Green Line’s design includes solar-powered station lighting, rainwater harvesting systems, and noise-reducing barriers in residential segments.
Despite the delay, business leaders maintain high optimism about the project’s transformative potential. The Lekki Free Trade Zone, which currently handles over $15 billion in annual economic output, is expected to triple its volume once the rail line becomes operational.
Industrialists such as Chief Emeka Nnaji, CEO of Lekki Logistics Hub, described the project as “a continental game-changer.” “The Green Line will make Lagos the logistics capital of West Africa. We’re talking about seamless movement from port to market, factory to export terminal. It’s the infrastructure link Nigeria has been missing,” he said.
Real estate developers have also begun projecting a new wave of appreciation along the corridor. According to a recent Knight Frank Lagos Market Outlook, properties within one kilometre of planned Green Line stations are likely to appreciate by over 150% within five years of completion.
Inevitably, the postponement has drawn political scrutiny. Opposition figures within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) have accused the Sanwo-Olu administration of “overpromising and underdelivering.” A statement from the Lagos PDP’s publicity secretary argued that the delay reflected “a pattern of high-profile projects suffering slow execution under political fanfare.”
However, supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) counter that Lagos remains the only Nigerian state with a consistent infrastructure pipeline sustained across multiple administrations. “What other state can boast of four rail projects in simultaneous motion? Lagos is building, not stalling,” said APC chieftain Mr. Tayo Williams during a TVC News interview.
Political observers view the Green Line’s timeline as a litmus test for Sanwo-Olu’s second term and his administration’s broader promise of a “Greater Lagos.” The governor, now two years into his second term, is under pressure to balance urban reforms with the socioeconomic demands of a post-subsidy Nigeria, where inflation and cost-of-living challenges have heightened public scrutiny of capital expenditure.
Beyond Lagos, the Green Line’s success or failure carries continental implications. African megacities — from Nairobi to Accra and Abidjan — are closely watching how Lagos navigates the integration of rail infrastructure into dense, informally developed urban fabrics.
If executed effectively, the project could serve as a model for sustainable mobility, aligning with Agenda 2063 of the African Union, which prioritizes intra-urban connectivity and low-emission transport systems. Lagos’ experiment may thus define how African cities manage growth without succumbing to gridlock, environmental collapse, or urban inequality.
For now, the December 2025 date stands as the next big milestone in Lagos’ infrastructural evolution. The delay, while disappointing for many commuters, reflects a complex convergence of economic recalibration, technical diligence, and environmental foresight.
Whether the Marina–Lekki Green Line becomes a symbol of enduring progress or another reminder of Nigeria’s infrastructural paradox will depend on sustained political will, transparent execution, and public accountability. But one truth endures — Lagos’ journey to becoming a true megacity cannot be completed on wheels alone; it must also ride on rails, vision, and resilience.