Railway firm announces new tariffs for freight

Kenya Railways Corporation has announced new tariffs as it seeks seamless connectivity of cargo transfer at the Naivasha Inland Container Depot from the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to the old metre gauge railway (MGR).

The company said it aims to offer end-to-end rail delivery to the Ugandan ports of Jinja and Port Bell through Kisumu port vessels, and the direct main line through Naivasha-Malaba-Kampala, which is ready for operation.

Charges for containerised cargo from Kilindini to Malaba will be $860 (Sh97,180) for a 20-foot container weighing 0-30 tonnes, and $960 (Sh108,480) for a container above 30 tonnes.

On the other hand, transporting a 40-foot container weighing 0-30 tonnes will cost $1,110 (Sh125,430) while that weighing above 30 tonnes will cost $1,260 (Sh142,380) via the SGR-MGR network.

The same rates apply for transporting similar cargo from Kilindini to Kisumu.

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“The integration of the SGR and MGR lines will remarkably improve the flow of cargo right from the port to the hinterland serving Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and parts of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” said KRC managing director Philip Mainga.

“The link that underpins seamless and efficient rail transport along the northern corridor will shortly be achieved.”

Transporting a 20-foot container of up to 30 tonnes from Naivasha to Malaba will cost $350 (Sh39,550) and $450 (Sh50,850) for one above 30 tonnes.

A 40-foot container weighing up to 30 tonnes on the same direction will be charged $460 (Sh51,980) while above 30 tonnes will cost $610 (Sh68,930) on the MGR network.

The announcement of tariffs came as the SGR in November continued to register higher performance on cargo evacuations, especially on imports from the Port of Mombasa.

During the month of November, Afristar– the SGR operator–ran 237 trains from Mombasa port to the Nairobi ICD.

This evacuated 22,384 twenty-foot equivalents (TEUs) of containerised cargo and 143,014 tonnes of conventional cargo of var that included wheat, fertiliser and clinker.

During the same period, Afristar hauled from Nairobi ICD to Mombasa 1,478 TEUs of exports and 14,596 TEUs of empty containers.