Manufacturers shun railway over cost, flexibility concerns

Kenya Railways staff offload cargo from an SGR train to the meter gauge railway cargo train at the Naivasha Inland Container Depot in Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County for onward transportation to Malaba. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Despite the availability of the Nairobi-Naivasha standard gauge railway (SGR) to ease the transportation of goods along the key corridor, a new study reveals that Kenyan manufacturers surprisingly continue to favour trucking for transporting goods across the country.

The study, published recently by the manufacturers' lobby says trucking is still preferred due to various reasons including cost, flexibility, and limitations of the SGR.