Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has cleared the design for a proposed monorail project in Lagos. The new rail link will connect the Ikeja Railway Station, which serves as the terminus for the Lagos Red Line, to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. According to Punch, the project aims to provide commuters and air passengers with a reliable alternative to road transportation. Keyamo disclosed the approval in a statement released on Tuesday, following a meeting with senior officials from the aviation ministry and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, along with their engineering staff.
The approved design includes five stations along the route. As reported by Premium Times, these stops are Ikeja Station, Domestic Airport Station, Beesam Station, Toll Gate Station, and the MMIA Airport Station. The line terminates at Terminal 1 of the international airport, which is currently undergoing reconstruction. Keyamo described the monorail as an integral component of the reconstruction of the nation's major gateway in Lagos. The project is expected to link the airport’s three terminals to the Red Line as part of a wider modernisation programme intended to improve passenger movement and airport operations.
The design approval follows earlier federal announcements regarding plans to extend rail services from Ikeja to the airport. In June, the government announced it was collaborating with the Lagos State Government to expand the existing rail network to the airport’s domestic and international terminals. More recently, Olubunmi Onabanjo-Kuku, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, indicated that talks on funding the planned airport rail link had progressed significantly. Speaking at the World Aviation Festival in Lisbon on October 18, Onabanjo-Kuku noted that work was underway to finalize the project’s financial framework.
The monorail project is situated within a broader context of infrastructure upgrades at the Lagos airport. While international flight operations continue through temporary arrangements, the reconstruction of Terminal 1 and other infrastructure improvements are underway. The approval of the monorail design marks a significant step in the development of the proposed airport rail connection, although a specific construction commencement date or completion timeline has not yet been provided.