A shipment of six more specialised locomotive engines for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and additional rails arrived at the port of Mombasa yesterday. The engines were loaded onto trucks from a ship for onward transportation to SGR construction sites at Mtito Andei and Emali in Makueni county.
Portside Company general operations supervisor Taukil Said said his firm had been appointed by SGR’s contractor, China Roads and Bridges Corporation (CRBC) to handle the project cargo and ensure it was safely transferred on site.
“We have received six locomotive engines and components from Mv Wulong Song and rails from Mv Falcon Bay,” he said. This is the second consignment of the locomotive engines with six more having arrived on September 20 from Beijing. The locomotive engines are to be used in laying the railway track and transporting project equipment as well as conducting test runs. Earthworks for the SGR project are 70 per cent complete.
The laying of the tracks will start from two points—one from Mtito Adei to Mombasa while the other one will start at Emali to Nairobi. The Sh427 billion project is scheduled for completion in June 2017. It will carry freight trains at a speed of up to 80km/h and passenger trains at a maximum speed of 120km/h. Transporters from P N Mashru and Trans East Limited said they will deliver the locomotive engines to the sites in the next three to four days.
P. N Mashru manager Abdulrazak Kiya said the three locomotive engines weighed 130 tonnes each and quick delivery would depend on the condition of the road particularly at Taru where there is currently a diversion due to ongoing road construction works.
“The highway is usually congested with trucks and the diversion at Taru is dusty and bumpy which slow the movement of such heavy loads. We pray that it does not rain during the transportation of this cargo,” Kiya said. He said the SGR project has brought increased business for transporters as well as jobs for the youth.

Source: K24

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