JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Lagos is Africa's most populous city, known for its vibrant energy, business and culture. It's also infamous for its brutal traffic jams. Officials say trains are a key part of the solution. The first intercity metro line has been open for over a year now, built with support from China. But has it made a difference? NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu battled the traffic to find out.
EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: In the morning rush hour in Lagos, I find myself in a familiar place - stuck in traffic. The cars are bumper to bumper, drivers jerking forward into small pockets of space.
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AKINWOTU: For most of the 20 million people in this city, this is a daily reality. The average person here spends up to six hours of their day stuck in traffic, according to some estimates. But while Lagos' population has rapidly grown, the pace of new roads and new transport links has been painfully slow. But over the last few years, the government has raised hopes that change is on the way. And from the stress of the congestion, I arrive in the cool hall of the Marina train station.
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AKINWOTU: I head onto the Lagos blue line, a 13-kilometer rail journey connecting Lagos Island, a commercial hub in the heart of the city, to the western part of Lagos.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: (Non-English language spoken).
AKINWOTU: This is one of two new train lines hailed by government officials as part of a rail revolution. As the train departs, there's music.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in non-English language).
AKINWOTU: There's Wi-Fi, and Premier League soccer highlights play on small screens along the carriage walls.
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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: ...Of this incredible start to the season continues...
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: (Non-English language spoken).
AKINWOTU: The novelty of this is still so clear. Some passengers take selfies and pictures of the Lagos skyline.
JEFF OSAMU: It's been wonderful, comfortable, nice.
AKINWOTU: One of them is Jeff Osamu, a doctor taking the train on his daily commute to work.
OSAMU: So if you can afford it, I think it's the best way to go.
AKINWOTU: This metro has been a long time coming. Plans for an intercity rail line were first drawn up more than 40 years ago in the 1980s, but it repeatedly stalled until there was an intervention from China.
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CUI JIANCHUN: Lagos is a great city, great economic center.
AKINWOTU: The Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, spoke at the official opening after China stepped in to complete the project with a major investment. But a year on, the question is, has it really made a difference?
So this is your first time taking the train.
OLUWAYINKA PETER: My first time.
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AKINWOTU: One of the passengers on the train is 53-year-old Oluwayinka Peter. He says he enjoys taking the train. It's cheaper than taking a bus or a boat and cuts his journey time by half. But he says most people don't find it useful because it's poorly planned. He and I are among just over a dozen passengers thinly spread around the carriage. These trains were projected to serve 150,000 passengers a day, and so far, it's less than 10,000. Most potential passengers find it tough to reach many of the stations as they've been built far away from existing transport links like buses. So they're complicated to reach, and when you get off the train, it's hard to get to where you're going.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: (Non-English language spoken).
AKINWOTU: The train carriages fill up by the time the journey ends. But when it stops, there's a stampede.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS)
AKINWOTU: Dozens of people rush to get one of the few small buses waiting to take them to their final stop because if they miss it, there's a long wait until the next one.
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AKINWOTU: And when it finally comes, we're all back where we started, thrown into the Lagos gridlock again.
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AKINWOTU: Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR News, Lagos.
(SOUNDBITE OF REFUGEE CAMP ALL-STARS (FT. LAURYN HILL) SONG, "THE SWEETEST THING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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