The promise of a middle income Kenya where a high-speed railway system moves the bulk of the economy is fast taking shape.

The first 472-kilometre phase of the standard gauge railway (SGR) is on course with government agencies reporting the completion of 40.2 kilometres in just four months.

“Since last December when the SGR project officially started, we have made a lot of progress and we are on course to complete it on time,” said Julius Li, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) manager for external relations and co-operation.

Apart from the Kenya-Uganda line, the SGR forms a major component of the Lamu Port and South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (Lapsset) project that Kenya has embarked on to link up its economy with regional markets.

The ongoing construction of a new port at Lamu and rehabilitation of existing berths of Mombasa Port point to a future controlled more by rail transport rather that the jam-causing trucks.

According to the Economic Survey released last week, cargo throughput at the Port of Mombasa increased by 11.5 per cent from 22.3 million tonnes in 2013 to 24.9 million tonnes in 2014.

The surveys shows 13.2 per cent in cargo traffic following improved efficiency at Mombasa Port and recent implementation of the single window platform that facilitates online transaction for international trade.

The total freight traffic via rail expanded by 24.3 per cent from 1.2 million tonnes in 2013, to 1.6 million in 2014. The earnings also grew by 13 per cent from Sh4.6 billion in 2013 to Sh5.2 billion in 2014.

And perhaps just to indicate the shape of the-not-so-distant future, the Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the concessionaire for the Kenya-Uganda line has acquired three new cargo trains and rehabilitated the old fleet to boost cargo uptake.

As cargo uptake increases, however, passenger transport is on the decline, thanks to suspension of passenger transport services along the Nairobi –Kisumu route. According to the survey, passenger journeys dropped by five per cent from 4 million in 2013 to 3.8 million in 2014. This occasioned a revenue drop of up to 23.2 per cent from Sh211 million to Sh162 million over the same period.

Sammy Gachuhi, the RVR general manager in charge of concession, says they stopped servicing the Nairobi Kisumu route because it was not economically viable.

“Most of the passengers on this route frequented the economy class whose fares were too low to warrant profits for the company”, said Mr Gachuhi.

He said the equipment for the upgrading the Nairobi-Kisumu railway was shipped in and most of them are at Konza and Sultan Hamud.

“A third of the 216 kilometres Nakuru Kisumu route has been upgraded going up to Mau summit which is about 68 kilometres” he added.

The urban commuter trains have on the other hand registered increased numbers of passengers. According to Mr Gachuhi, from January to March this year, the company has seen a 40,000 passenger increase from 167,000 to 206,000 in the first quarter.

He said that this is attributed to the new stations that have been introduced by the railway company which include Syokimau station, Imara Daima, Makadara and Nairobi main station which serves the Sykimau route.

The new stations were designed with parking bays to help decongest the city of traffic. This was to be achieved if passengers used the parking bays to park their vehicles and use the trains to access the CBD only to pick their vehicles from the train stations after leaving town.

To woo even more commuters, RVR has also refurbished the coaches to allow more room for passengers. The coaches were fitted with hand rails for commuters to hold onto during the journey in case they were standing.

Besides refurbishing the coaches, RVR has also acquired 20 new engines with 13 having already been shipped in. The cost of these developments, which include rehabilitating older engines and servicing the routes, has cost the company a total of Sh3 billion.

Source: Business Daily

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