The Lagos State Government has acquired two Talgo-built passenger trains in line with its plans to commence a metro rail line in the state later this year.
The purchase of the two trains, which were originally built for a high-speed rail line to connect Madison and Milwaukee in the United States of America (USA), was completed on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, during the visit of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to Milwaukee in the US to buy the train from its manufacturer, Talgo.
BusinessDay understands that the two trains will kick-start the first phase of the Lagos metro system, and the Talgo trains are expected to begin operation later this year, serving up to 500,000 passengers in the Lagos area daily.
According to Wisconsin Public Radio, the two trains were built in 2012, have been unused for close to 10 years, and were originally intended for Madison and Milwaukee rail lines.
The trains, which are heading to Nigeria, are set to become part of West Africa’s first operational metro system, according to the report.
Cavalier Johnson, acting Milwaukee Mayor, who welcomed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, at a public event at the Milwaukee facilities of Spanish train manufacturer Talgo, said it is a little bittersweet to let the trains go.
“I am sending my congratulations to the governor of Lagos State in Nigeria, but also a little disappointed that we missed out on the opportunity to have those train sets operating here in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin,” Johnson said after the event.
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According to Johnson, conversations about high-speed rail in Wisconsin have not gone away.
“I hope that at some point, we are still able to realise that vision for a more connected community,” said Johnson.
On his part, Frank Busalacchi, the then Wisconsin’s Secretary of Transportation at the time the trains were built said: “I am glad that they were able now to sell them to somebody, that somebody is going to use them. The fact that after many years, Talgo found a buyer for the trains, kudos to them.”
“It is what it is. They are moving on to Nigeria. Good for the Nigerians,” Bauman said.
Wisconsin Public Radio said that in 2009, Wisconsin’s then-Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, announced a deal with Talgo for two new trains to be built in the state, and used for a high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison.
In the same year, Wisconsin was awarded $810 million for the project in a federal stimulus bill.
The plans died off after Republican Scott Walker became governor. But by 2012, Talgo had built the trains and sent an invoice to the state for them. Later that year, Talgo terminated the contract and sued the state, kicking off a court dispute that lasted almost three years.
Ultimately, under the terms of a settlement between Wisconsin and Talgo, the state paid the company a total of $50 million for the trains, which remained under the company’s ownership.
The trains sat unused in an Amtrak facility in Indiana for years, a lasting reminder of the dispute. They eventually returned to Talgo’s plant in Milwaukee in 2019.
Around when the trains came back to Milwaukee, Talgo spokespeople floated the possibility of the trains finding use on Amtrak’s Cascades line in the Pacific Northwest, but last year Amtrak announced Siemens Mobility would produce new trains for the line instead.
