Commuters stranded after Kenya Railways suspends train services in Nairobi over technical hitches

Thousands of commuters were Monday stranded after Kenya Railways suspended train services due to what they termed as technical hitches.

The areas affected included Syokimau, Imara Daima, Makadara, Kikuyu, Kibera, Embakasi and Ruiru routes.

The routes are usually busy on Mondays and the decision to suspend the services without notice caught many offguard.

The KRA management cited a technical hitch as the cause for the suspension of the services.

“The hitch also affected cargo trains from other parts of the country but it has been rectified,” said an official at KR.

Those affected say the management did not inform them on time. A commuter, Judith Kwamboka, said she had been inconvenienced by the suspension.

“We pay for the commuter cards. Who is going to compensate us for the mess? It is wrong,” said Kwamboka.

A train at the Syokimau Railway Station in an earlier photo. Thousands of commuters were Monday stranded after Kenya Railways suspended train services due to what they termed as technical hitches. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

The situation forced the commuters to seek alternatives on the roads leading to heavy traffic jams on major routes. The technical hitch is said to have started midnight and extended to the morning.

Rift Valley Railways (RVR) currently operates the Nairobi commuter rail services on a one-year concession. The bulk of commuters are carried by matatus.

The incident comes less than a week after a brakeless and unmanned engine caused panic along the Nairobi-Ruiru railway by speeding off on the network.

Officials said the engine’s braking system had failed at the Makadara station forcing the driver and an engineer who were in to jump off as it sped towards Githurai direction.

The engine however sped and stalled near Githurai in Mwiki area at a slope after losing momentum almost ten kilometers away.

It passed through the busy Umoja, Kayole, Dandora and other busy stops.

Police who had been informed of the incident raised their colleagues on the route to ask them to tell passengers who wanted to board the train to keep off.

The driver and the engineer who were in the engine managed to get into another one that was at the scene and trailed the unmanned one while hooting from a distance warning pedestrians and motorists at various level crossing to keep off.

Witnesses said it was moving at high speed and gaining momentum before it finally stalled at a slope area.

Thousands of people rely on the trains to connect to their destinations in the city because it is relatively cheaper and reliable.

The management is in the process of modernising the engines and wagons for better service delivery.