Works on a 250-metre bridge linking the port of Mombasa to the standard gauge railway (SGR) Mombasa terminus is complete in an upgrade that will drop the use of trucks to feed goods from ships to the rail.

The bridge will connect with a 2.7-kilometre rail extension from SGR terminus to shipping cargo dispatch bays.

This will remove the need to use road trucks in what is expected to lower cost of transport and swiftly move goods on SGR.

“Construction works on the cross-bridge connecting the port of Mombasa and the standard gauge railway at Mombasa terminus is complete. The 250-metre radius bridge is part of the 2.726 km SGR Port Relief Line that will cover 10 berths at the Mombasa Port,” said China Communication Construction Company in a statement Monday. The move is aimed at facilitating easier movement of bulky and heavy goods such as clinker, steel, iron and cement into the SGR. The 10 berths are currently connected to the SGR terminus via a road.

The Kenya Port Authority have been offloading goods via cranes and transporting them via trucks to the SGR line.

The SGR freight service, which  started operations last December, has struggled to find  more customers despite rock bottom prices.

It is currently charging freighters a flat fee of Sh35,000 for a 20-foot container and Sh40,000 for a  40-foot type from Mombasa to Embakasi Inland Container Depot (ICD). It also charges Sh25,000 to transport a 20-foot container and  Sh30,000 for  a 40-foot container from ICD to Mombasa.

Kenya Railways introduced a market price of Sh64,500  for a 20 foot container and Sh84,300 for a 40 –foot container in January and cut the fare following the reduced  traffic.

The  move comes in the midst of  a row with freighters who have defied a government directive to transport their imports via the standard gauge railway.

The bridge will therefore  reduce the amount of time taken  to offload goods, and upload them on the SGR for onward transportation once the entire project is complete.

“In order to ensure the construction quality of the girder construction, the project was equipped with experienced technical management personnel and girder construction personnel,’ said CCCC.

Source: Business Daily