Rail transport in Kenya


Rail transport in Kenya consists of a metre-gauge network that is in poor condition and a new standard gauge railway. Both railways connect Kenya's main port city of Mombasa to the interior, running through the national capital of Nairobi. The metre-gauge network runs to the Ugandan border, and the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, financed by a Chinese loan, is being extended to the Ugandan border as of June 2017.

Network

The loading gauge for new standard gauge railways in Africa is
width: the same as the original Shinkansen in Japan; also Korea and China. Allows for 2+3 seating.

platform train gap:

platform height:

carriage floor height:

Passenger service between Mombasa and Nairobi is available on the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway. A metre-gauge commuter train connects the new SGR Nairobi Terminus to the old station in Nairobi city center.

History

The Uganda Railway was originally built by the British to provide Uganda with access to the sea. Construction began at Mombasa in 1896 and reached Lake Victoria in 1901. The line was nicknamed the Lunatic Line because of the difficulties encountered during its construction, including man-eating lions that ate about 30 workers before they were finally hunted down. In 1929, the Uganda Railway was merged into Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours, which was then merged into East African Railways and Harbours Corporation in 1948. EAR&H operated transportation links for Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania until the East African Community was dissolved. Kenya's portion of the railway became the Kenya Railways Corporation. Over the next 30 years, Kenya's railway network deteriorated from a lack of maintenance. By 2017, only half of Kenya's metre-gauge railways remained in operation.
In November 2006, the Rift Valley Railways Consortium took over the operation of railways in Kenya and Uganda under a 25-year concession. However, RVR was unable to turnaround railway operations, hampered by corrupt management and aging infrastructure. In 2017, the World Bank found that a $22 million loan extended for the purchase of refurbished locomotives had been diverted into a shell company controlled by RVR executives. The Uganda Railways Corporation issued a notice of default to RVR in 2016, and the Kenya Railways Corporation terminated the concession in April 2017.
In 2011, Kenya signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Road and Bridge Corporation to build the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway. Financing for the project was finalised in May 2014, with the Exim Bank of China extending a loan for 90% of the project cost, and the remaining 10% coming from the Kenyan government. Passenger service on the SGR was inaugurated on 31 May 2017. Work to extend the SGR to Naivasha is complete.

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