The standard gauge railway (SGR) contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), has launched a railway technology transfer training facility in Voi to improve capacity of its Kenyan employees.

Once complete, passenger trains using SGR will cruise at speeds of 120 kilometres per hour while cargo trains will run at 80 kilometres per hour. This will shorten time taken between Mombasa and Nairobi to about four and a half hours for passengers and eight hours for cargo.

The construction phase is expected to create about 30,000 jobs for Kenyans and contribute 1.5 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).