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Kenya: Train Services Resume for Western Kenya Travellers

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4 years ago

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Travellers from Kisumu and Malaba to Nairobi will, from November, get seamless train services, linking the newly built Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line and the refurbished metre-gauge track between Nakuru and Western Kenya.

Kenya Railways Corporation Managing Director Philip Mainga said seamless services will begin before Christmas after trials on the railway line linking the SGR to the older railway track at Longonot are completed.

“Passenger operations from Nairobi to Mai Mahiu and Malaba via Longonot through a revamped metre-gauge train for visitors to and from Western parts of Kenya will start in November,” he told the Nation on Friday when he accompanied members of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance on a tour of the Naivasha station.

A spot-check by the Nation showed that the 23.5km interchange line at Longonot area in Naivasha that connects the new SGR line to the metre gauge railway is complete.

The track from Maai Mahiu to Longonot, whose construction began in August last year, is now complete, linking the SGR and the metre-gauge railway line.

On Friday, workers were putting finishing touches to the works.

Kenya Railways has also built the Longonot control station to enable smooth transportation of cargo containers and passengers from Nairobi and Mombasa to Kisumu and Malaba border into Uganda.

“Hopefully, we’re starting trial runs in the first week of October in preparation for commissioning by the President in November,” Mr Mainga revealed.

He termed the 465-kilometre stretch as critical for development to ensure connectivity from the Port of Mombasa to Malaba through Kisumu.

The century-old Nakuru-Kisumu metre gauge railway line has 18 stations serving several towns including Nakuru, Njoro, Elburgon, Molo, Londiani, Kedowa, Lumbwa, Kipkelion and Fort Ternan, which have been idle since 2008.

But the newly revamped Nakuru-Kisumu railway is now set to inject new life into a number of old towns along the line, which collapsed after the train services halted years ago.

The revival of the old railway line has sparked excitement in various towns in Nakuru,Kericho and Kisumu ,most of which served as train stations.

Revive business

The Kenya Railways, which has already revamped the 18 stations, is in the process of linking the revamped metre-gauge railway line and the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD).