IN SUMMARY The passenger train plying the 472km Mombasa-Nairobi route will take an estimated four and a half hours. Passengers travelling to other towns between Nairobi and Mombasa will have to rely on the second option, the Inter-County service which will make seven stops. The cargo fleet are expected to maintain “an average practical speed” of 60 km per hour. Imagine boarding a train at dawn in Nairobi to attend a breakfast meeting in Mombasa and by early afternoon, you are back for your day-to-day business in the city. That sounds revolutionary for a country where travelling one-way by train is currently a whole day experience. Or picture a case where many of the little-known towns along the Mombasa-Nairobi route have suddenly become commercial and manufacturing hubs, something that has eluded them since Independence more than 50 years ago. Only four months to the launch of Kenya’s fast Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train, there appears to be no let up in feel good promises as State officials continue to paint a picture of an efficient modern transport system that awaits the country as it prepares to put the new line to use. President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to celebrate this year’s Madaraka Day by riding on the fast train from Mombasa to Nairobi on June 1. The Kenya Railways Corporation (KR) said the Intercity Express, the passenger train plying the 472km Mombasa-Nairobi route will take an estimated four and a half hours. The agency’s chief executive, Atanas Maina, said the...
Will SGR trains deliver the promise of seamless transport, economic growth?
Posted on: February 8, 2017
Posted on: February 8, 2017