Kenya Railways and KTDA in tea transportation partnership

NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 6-Kenya Railways and the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) have entered into a partnership which will see KTDA managed factories transport their produce via the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

Under the partnership, the tea across the country will be transported to the Nairobi Freight Terminal where it will be loaded onto Kenya Railways wagons and subsequently transported to the Port of Mombasa.

Speaking in Mombasa today while receiving the first batch of tea to be hauled by Kenya Railways, Principal Secretary in State Department for Crop Development and Agricultural Research, Hamadi Boga, noted that the move is an innovative step that will lower tea transport costs and deliver better value to farmers.

“Plans to transport tea via Kenya Railways have been in the pipeline for a while now as we explored new technologies and infrastructure to enhance efficiencies in the tea supply chain. We are cognizant that the progression to Kenya Railways will guarantee faster, safer, and more convenient transportation of tea,” he said.

Kenya Railways Managing Director, Phillip Mainga assured the KTDA team that opting for the Standard Gauge Railway was the best choice because of the benefits associated with railway transport.

“We have enough capacity to handle all the cargo you can bring our way. At the moment we are running 9 to 11 freight trains every day between Mombasa and Nairobi and we are able to do even more if need be,” he said.

Mainga further added that the partnership will lead to decongestion on roads.

“Transporting tea through Kenya Railways means that the roads will be decongested because one train can transport an equivalent volume that would take many trucks to transport by road,” he said.

Commenting on the same, KTDA Holdings Limited Chairman, David Ichoho, said the organization is piloting 20,000 packs per week as it continues to streamline the process for a full migration from road to rail transport.

“Every year we move about 300 million kilograms of processed teas and we expect these large volumes will mean greater savings for farmers as we progressively migrate to the Kenya Railways. Initially, we expect to transport 20,000 packages every week as we fine-tune the system and processes before full migration,” Ichoho said.

Kenya Railways will soon commence transshipment of cargo from the Standard Gauge Railway onto the Metre Gauge Railway line at Longonot station.

This move will ensure that cargo is transported seamlessly via rail from the Port of Mombasa to Malaba and Kisumu.