Kenya Railways changes tack to save Syokimau train service

By Paul Wafula

 Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) has quietly halved fares and scrapped all the daytime frequencies of the Syokimau commuter train service after its strategy targeting the middle class hit a snag.

The Standard has learnt that the State Corporation has been forced to change its strategy on the urban commuter rail transport less than three months after it was launched amid pomp and colour.

It is now charging Sh50 for a one-way ticket between Syokimau and the Central Business District and Sh100 for a return ticket at peak times. And it is now making three round trips, down from the five it was making after it began operations.

When it launched its services mid-November, KRC was charging between Sh100 and Sh120 one way for the 18-kilometre journey that takes about 30 minutes. The pricing that was met by resistance by commuters on grounds that the train service sot significantly more than matatus.

But now, Passengers who were paying Sh300 in December to secure a return ticket and parking are now paying just Sh200 for the same.

“We scrapped the daytime frequencies from January 14 because they were loss making and were always empty. We also reduced fares to allow more commuters to use the train more frequently, and hopefully allow them time to appreciate the service,” a train attendant who requested anonymity told The Standard yesterday.

The train is now doing the 7.05am and 9.40am peak and off- peak services from Syokimau to Nairobi in the morning, while in the evening it is doing the 5.50pm and 7.45pm peak and off-peak services from Nairobi to Syokimau.

Public transport

The shift has also seen it start undercutting public transport vehicles commonly known as matatus plying Mombasa road. A spot check by The Standard also revealed that matatus are beginning to lower the fares from a high of Sh100 to Sh60 as they respond to the rock bottom fares being offered by the train.

During the launch, the corporation had dismissed the new service as an elitist product targeting the middle-income population, locking out thousands low income city residents.

“We are targeting a customer who is mainly driving into town, parking their car for about nine hours, working and driving out of town. The second category is a customer who is dissatisfied with the quality of the public service vehicles, who may not have a car, but is willing to pay a little bit more for comfort, reliability, to save time, safety and security,” Kenya Railways Corporation Managing Director, Nduva Muli, said in an earlier interview.

Analysts had been puzzled why the Government opted to start with a high end railway line at a time the country is crying out for a reliable public mass transport system.

The Sh200 million railway line, conceived as a park-and-ride had spoilt the party of many would be passengers who had hoped to get a reprieve from the heavy traffic on Mombasa road.

Critics have also faulted move to target motorists on grounds that it fails to offer a solution to the public transport headache. This move to go down market to get commuters from all walks of life on the train is now promising to make it much harder to break even.

According to Kenya Railways, it costs it about Sh75, 000 for one round train. The largest cost is the train operating costs, which forms about 50 per cent of its cost base, maintenance takes up 20 per cent, while security and insurance takes up 10 and five per cent respectively. The remaining 15 per cent is taken up by miscellaneous expenses. A large proportion of the operating costs are the fuel costs.

Break-even

This means that it must carry at least 750 passengers for a round trip to break even. The train has a capacity of 1,200 passengers one way, and Kenya Railways says it needs at least a load factor of 60 per cent to start operating profitably. The fact that traffic in Nairobi is directional is also making it almost impossible for the operators of the train to fill it for a round trip.

In the morning, the train goes back to Syokimau from Nairobi almost empty, and the situation is the same in the evening when it comes back from Syokimau.

Syokimau station is part of a larger Sh24 billion project envisioned to interlink all the key sections of Nairobi with a railway network. Apart from the Syokimau Station, the master plan envisages three other stations at Makadara, Imara Daima and Moi Avenue.

The passenger rail was aimed at eliminating traffic jams, which have become commonplace in the city.