Kenya rail transport back on track after decades of neglect
Posted: 18 Aug 2020, 10:42
Railway transport back on track after decades of neglect
The recent refurbishment of sections of the Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) line is expected to play a significant function in sustaining businesses in the counties it serves as well as creating the requisite cargo volumes to improve the performance of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and cement its viability...
The Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) is currently undertaking an ambitious plan for rehabilitation and expansion to encourage economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic... The rehabilitation involves revitalisation of the previously abandoned and dilapidated railway network across the country...
The programme is being undertaken with resources that have been generated within the organisation and the costs have been kept at a bare minimum, with the utilisation of the National Youth Service (NYS) and other youth who have been recruited among communities residing within the railway corridor.
A key milestone is the recently refurbished 177 km Nairobi-Nanyuki railway line, which is beginning to bear fruit, with the return of freight trains to the line, which last saw regular services in the 1990s... Also, the rehabilitation of the route from Nakuru to Kisumu is ongoing. The rehabilitation of the Lake Victoria train ferry MV Uhuru has revived lake transport from Mwanza in Tanzania, to Jinja and Entebbe in Uganda and Muhoma Bay in Rwanda...
Another project lined up is the construction of a new MGR line that will link the Naivasha to the existing Longonot railway station. Upon completion, the 24.3 Kilometre line will provide a seamless connection between the SGR and the MGR line to enable efficient transportation of goods via the railway line from Mombasa to Malaba and/or Kisumu.
The project is part of the larger rehabilitation of the Longonot-Malaba and the Nakuru- Kisumu lines. The interface between the SGR and the MGR, together with the rehabilitation of the Naivasha to Malaba line, will speed up regional integration. The commercial benefits to be realised due to the development are enormous.
Not to be left behind is the Nairobi Commuter Rehabilitation Project, with major infrastructure changes being undertaken to integrate and expand its different components with the aim of modernising and upgrading the existing infrastructure.
The project comprises the revival and rehabilitation of the following lines: the 75 km Nairobi to Konza City line that will increase traffic to the metropolis and encourage investment; the 26 km Madaraka to Ruiru line; the 31 km Nairobi to Kikuyu line and the 7.2 km Nairobi to Embakasi Village. The Nairobi Rail project is expected to improve passenger comfort, reduce the transit time and increase operation safety of the Meter Gauge Railway.
The Nairobi Commuter Rail has been buoyed by the recent acquisition of 11 Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) from SFM of Spain at a cost of KSh1.1 billion. This deal is significant to KRC and the country as a whole.
The entry of the DMUs heralds a new chapter in the railway transport sector not just in Nairobi, where it will more than triple the extant commuter rail transport capacity but eventually in the rest of the country as a whole, given the MGR’s wide footprint.