Commercial Cable Car Transit Makes Debut in 2014
By Kunle Aderinokun
The first-ever commercial cable car transit in Nigeria will commence operation in Lagos in 2014, Ropeways Transport Limited has said.
Managing Director of Ropeways Transport, Mr. Dapo Olumide, said the first phase of the Lagos cable car transit project, which would have its groundbreaking in the third quarter of this year, would be completed and running in 2014.
Olumide added that the project, borne out the need to cater for the burgeoning population of Lagos and designed to cover a total distance of 12.5 kilometres of the state, would have its remaining part completed in 2015.
Purely a private-sector initiative, the project, according to him, had the approval of the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, and would have the debt portion of its financing undertaken by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) as the leading arranger while the equity part will be the responsibility of private investors.
Olumide, who is an aviation expert, told THISDAY: "For the city, the Lagos Cable Car will place the state squarely in its rightful place as the centre of excellence and innovation in the country, " adding that, "for the people of Lagos it will be a radical departure from the established traditional forms of transport enhancing their productivity and output while stimulating civic pride.
Also speaking on what the cable car system will mean for Nigeria, he noted: "For the nation as a whole it will provide a pathway for thinking outside the box to solving the many transport infrastructure challenges that the country is facing."
Explaining that "the Lagos Cable Car is inherently an intermodal transport system that compliments other modes of transport within the city," Olumide assured: "Our route strategy is designed in such a way that it does not compete with any other form of transport in the city."
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