Standard gauge railway to be completed a year ahead of schedule

A bridge is assembled inside the Tsavo National Park under the ongoing Standard Gauge Railway project.

The standard gauge railway (SGR) is 65 per cent complete and will be opened in June next year.

Kenya Railway Corporation (KRC) Managing Director Atanas Maina said the Sh327 billion railway line would be completed a year earlier than its planned completion date.

Mr Maina was speaking during a tour of the Northern Corridor infrastructure by the parliamentary committee on Transport yesterday.

Maina said by the end of this year, the Government will begin importing 60 locomotive engines, 1,620 wagons and 40 passenger coaches ahead of 2017.

“These will be enough to start the SGR operations. We are planning to start training about 200 Kenyans between now and 2017 on operation and maintenance of the locomotives,” Maina said.

The Government has contracted China Roads and Bridges Corporation (CRBC) to construct the railway line between Mombasa and Nairobi.

Maina Kamanda, the parliamentary committee chairperson, said his team was impressed by the expertise used in its construction and hoped Kenyan professionals would gain in terms of technology transfer.

“We are impressed with the progress of the project. Several sections along the line have started taking shape, from the actual track to the sub-stations along the 472km SGR line,” Kamanda said.

Other committee members included Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi, Baringo South MP Grace Kipchoim and Luanda MP Christopher Omulele.

The team visited the Athi River station, which will have the longest bridge along the line as well as Simba, Kyulu and Tsavo stations, which are part of 24 passing stations.

The MPs also visited the Mombasa station where CRBC is reclaiming 70 acres from the sea to create land for the railway that will connect to the freight terminal at the port of Mombasa.

Mwinyi said the project had improved residents’ livelihoods in the counties that it traverses.

Booming Business

The MP assured fishermen and other Mombasa residents affected by SGR that they would soon be compensated. “Settlements in the various counties traversed by the project have turned into booming business centres from youthful drivers who have been hired by the contractors to farmers who have the herculean task of feeding the various teams working along the line,” said Mwinyi.

Meanwhile, the KRC boss assured the Kenya National Highways Authority that pillars supporting the railway bridges would be realigned to pave way for expansion of the Mombasa-Nairobi highway at Taru.

The pillars have been blamed for the delay in the expansion of the road, forcing KeNHA to raise the matter with the railway management.

Maina said SGR was of national and regional strategic importance. “As the implementing agency, we are keen and actively engaged to ensure the project is completed on time and as per contractual specifications,” Maina said.

SGR runs through Mombasa, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Makueni, Kajiado, Machakos and Nairobi. It is designed to carry 22 million tonnes of cargo a year.