Why SGR cargo train is yet to roar into life despite price reductions

Containers on board the Standard Guage Railway Freight Train hauling sails along the Mwamdudu fly-over at Miritini headed to the port of Mombasa for export. [Photo by Gideon Maundu/Standard]

For months it had been billed as a game changer in cargo transport - a development that would get trailers off the road, move cargo to Nairobi from Mombasa in record time and finally silence critics of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

But a month since the Government launched the much-awaited SGR cargo service, policymakers are still scratching their heads on how to make it more attractive to importers.