There is great value for Kenya in the Standard Gauge Railway line

More than three years ago, on November 28, 2013, President Uhuru Kenyatta presided over the ground-breaking ceremony in Mombasa that ushered in the construction of the modern Standard Gauge Railway line. Today, President Kenyatta will not only launch the train service between Mombasa and Nairobi, he will be among the passengers on that inaugural ride.

The 427km rail line between Mombasa and Nairobi has been constructed at a cost of Sh327 billion. The SGR is Jubilee's flagship project that, among others, seeks to improve the country’s dilapidated infrastructure and with it, the economy.

The Vision 2030 flagship project will reduce the travel time between Mombasa and Nairobi, added to which it will also lead to a reduction in travel costs and promises great comfort for travellers compared to the bone-jarring travel on a bus that often leaves one exhausted, not to mention the risk of loss of limb and life.

The SGR, the biggest infrastructure project in independent Kenya, is expected to shorten the passenger travel time for the 600km journey from more than ten hours to about five hours. Cargo trains will complete the journey in at least eight hours. In addition to saving time, it will cut costs.

With fewer heavy trucks on our narrow roads, not only will this lead to a reduction in road accidents that happen mostly at night involving these trucks, the damage to road that over loaded trucks cause will be minimised. The final scheme of things is a seamless connection between Mombasa, Malaba, Kampala and Kigali once the project is complete.

In the short term, however, the massive investment in the SGR may not seem worthwhile to some. Already, sections of the SGR have been vandalised, not just once, but twice by individuals who eventually sell the heavy metal bars as scrap metal.

People battling the pangs of hunger, rising cost of living, inability to fend for their families may not see the long-term value of the SGR, but this can be remedied if Kenyans are facilitated to put food on the table.