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Kenya’s rail transport dates back to the period between 1891 and 1895.
In the 1980s and early 90s, travelling between Nairobi and Mombasa by rail would involve hours of snaking through the countryside, a journey that would take up to 15 hours.
The country has, however, seen an evolution of its rail network, with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) changing how people travel and movement of cargo.
SGR operations commenced in 2017, when Kenya Railways Cooperation (KRC) contracted AfriStar, a subsidiary company of China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), to manage SGR operations and maintenance.
Since then, it has been a story of growth for the Kenyan economy, with the modern train’s passenger service, christened “Madaraka Express”, cutting the journey between Mombasa and Nairobi to just four and a half hours, operating at up to 120km/h (75 mph), with 1,200 seats per train.
With both day and night trains, the SGR passenger services moved at least 1.9 million people last year alone, while freight transport increased from 4.4 million tonnes in 2020 to 5.4 million tonnes, the Economic Survey 2022 indicates.
This came as cargo throughput at the Mombasa port increased by 12.5 per cent to stand at 34.7 million tonnes in 2021.
Kenya Railways Managing director Philip Mainga said with introduction of Sg ,most of the small towns along the railway have actively revived interms of business wise.
“So many towns ,lik e Emali,are now active and improved economically,”Mainga said.
“From banks, hotels, supermarkets and restaurants to taxi businesses, the town, which is about 125km from the capital Nairobi, has become one of the fastest-growing along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway, thanks to the rail system that has eased movement, connecting it with other towns.
This translates to hundreds of jobs,”MD Philip Mainga added.
Another town that has had its fortunes change is Voi town.
If you travelled by bus about 10 years ago, Voi had become a ghost town at night, with only a few buses diverting into the town centre to pick up or drop off passengers.
Most would choose Mtito Andei as the preferred stopover before embarking on the journey.
Mainga attributed the growth in cargo volumes to concerted joint efforts in liaison with other key government agencies, which include the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), enabling smooth loading, delivery and clearance of cargo at destination depots of ICD Nairobi and Naivasha.
