A raft of concerns should be addressed before the full roll-out of the freight train services of the Standard Gauge Railways early next year, Kenya Railway Corporation management has said.

They listed additional charges that accrue on top of freight charges that have already been approved by KRC Board and the ministry of Transport among areas of concern.

KRC managing director Atanas Maina said they have held several sessions with stakeholders across the country on tariff charges.

However, despite the fact that the SGR freight service is expected to lower the cost of cargo transport by up to 35 per cent between the port of Mombasa and the Nairobi Inland Container Depot, there are several charges that accrue on top of this.

“There are a lot of other charges that accrue to cargo owner before you get to freight charges. We are looking into all these. We are computing this, make an adjustment here, adjustment there, possibly to taken care of the issues raised,” said Maina.

He was speaking to journalists on the sideline of a two-day media workshop organized by the Kenya Ports Authority at Whitesands Hotel Mombasa.

He said they are now preparing a report which will be taken to their parent Ministry of Transport for implementation before the launch of the service.

“So many issues have come up, not necessarily related to the railway service, but are critical as a far as the whole supply chain is concerned,” he said.

They have engaged the shipping agents, cargo owners and clearing agents among others. He said there is a lot of goodwill and interest from the stakeholders.

“We believe we will be able to strike a balance and move on smoothly,” he said. The testing phase for a commercial cargo train began early this month and full commercial operations on the freight service will commence in 2018. It is expected that this cost saving will be passed on to consumers.

According to KRC, the cost of transport and logistics accounts for up to 40 per cent of the cost of goods and services passed to consumers.

Source: The Star

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