Commuter rail could be answer to Nairobi’s chaotic traffic jams

NAIROBI, KENYA: Peter Kinyua never advocated for the Nairobi commuter train service. This is before he used it. But after using it last month, he was somehow impressed, especially with the 25 minutes that it took him from Imara Daima to town, which ordinarily takes him upwards of an hour, sometimes as many as three when using Mombasa Road which is gridlocked mostly in mornings.

He has several pit peeves with the service including the ticketing that he said was ill managed and that there are little or no security checks. There is also the fact that the train schedules are such that if you miss the seven o’clock one, you will have to make alternative arrangements for you to commute to the Central Business District. The seven o’clock train was also not on time that particular day, which he took to mean the lateness might be a habit rather than exemption. And he is not alone, given the rants on Kenya Railways’ social network pages.

Kinyua’s take is that while there is huge potential for the commuter service on both the demand and supply side, the agencies charged to man it have not given it serious thought. The service originates at Syokimau, through Imara Daima and Makadara and terminates at the railway station in CBD.

While the commuter service might not by any means come close to being a panacea for the city’s myriad problems related to traffic congestion, it could play a significant role in easing traffic on major roads to the CBD especially during peak hours.

MADDENING TRAFFIC

The National Treasury also sees the Nairobi commuter rail service as one that can reduce the man-hours wasted in traffic and make Kenya competitive. It is estimated that Sh50 million is lost every day in non-productivity as human resource wastes away in Nairobi’s traffic congestion.

 “To improve our productivity and competitiveness in the domestic and international markets, we are developing an elaborate and modern transport and logistic network. This will include construction of a standard gauge railway, an urban commuter railway… improving our road networks,” said Henry Rotich, Cabinet secretary Treasury in his Thursday budget statement in Parliament.

He added that Treasury is finalising modalities for the financing of the JKIA commuter rail to hasten movement of passengers to and from the airport.

The congestion in the capital has been getting worse and recently made it to the top of the issues discussed at the Cabinet. A February Cabinet meeting talked of how limiting to business jams have become and instructed the Transport ministry and the Nairobi County government to work together and come up with a solution to what motorists describe as maddening traffic.

SH50 MILLION A DAY

“The Cabinet noted with great concern the current traffic congestion in the City of Nairobi and directed the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure to liaise with the Governor Nairobi County to find an urgent solution for easing traffic flow in the City.  Recognising the need for a long term solution, Cabinet directed the ministry of Transport to focus on alternative transport for the City mainly commuter rail through Public Private Partnerships,” said a brief issued after the February Cabinet meeting.

Despite half-hearted attempts including putting in place new traffic lights to supplement efforts by traffic police and the recently unveiled Nairobi County traffic marshals, nothing has eased and the situation seems to be getting worse by day.

Though there are no official figures, it is estimated that traffic jams cost the economy Sh50 million a day in lost productivity, translating to Sh18 billion per year.

While discussions on money lost on traffic jams might appear abstract and farfetched, the Sh28 billion lost every year is not a modest amount considering the projects that could be undertaken using the money.

The amount is 60 per cent more than Sh11.2 billion that will be used for the planned upgrade of Outering Road.  It is almost at par with the Sh17.5 billion that the government plans to spend over the next financial year in rolling out e-learning in schools, where it says it will buy laptops for children, build capacity among teachers and roll out computer laboratory for class four to class eight in all schools throughout the country as well as purchase personal computers for the labs.

Savings that would be made over two years of a traffic-congestion-free Nairobi would have been more than enough to finance the Thika Superhighway that cost Sh32 billion.