Kenya Railway Expansion

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The aim of the Kenya Railway Expansion is to construct a high capacity Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) network in Kenya with connections to the East Africa region.

The proposed project will be financed through a public-private partnership and implemented under the Kenya Railway Corporation and Rift Valley Railways over a period of five years.  When completed in 2017, the 431 billion Kenyan Shilling (USD 5.2 billion) project will supplement Kenya’s northern rail corridor with 120 kilometer per hour freight trains and 180 kilometer per hour passenger fleets. The project aims to transfer freight and passengers from roads to rail, reducing road damage and providing safe and rapid intercity transportation.

In February 2012, Kenya Railways Corporation petitioned the National Treasury for 13.1 billion Kenyan Shilling tax liability waivers. This waiver was approved, and now the rail expansion project needs an additional 70 billion Kenyan Shillings of public subsidy before it can be completed under Vision 2030.

The following two rail corridors are part of the national Kenya Railway Expansion project and serve as flagship projects under Vision 2030. If completed, these rail expansion projects will change the way that people move between Nairobi and its neighboring cities.

1. Mombasa-Nairobi-Malaba Corridor

The Government of Kenya is currently inviting partners to develop Standard Gauge Rail (SGR) linking the Port of Mombasa with the cities of Nairobi, Kenya and Malaba, Uganda. The Kenyan and Uganda Governments have signed a bilateral agreement for this railway development and are in the process of identifying consultants to undertake the preliminary design (click here for project profile).

2. Nairobi Commuter Rail Network

The project consists of construction of new railway stations as well as expansion and renovation of the Nairobi railway station. The Syokimau Railway Station is 95% complete, and procurement has begun for the remaining new railway stations. In addition, detailed designs for construction of the 6 kilometer long branch that extends from Embakasi to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport  are complete (click here for project profile).

Resources

  1. East Africa Railways Master Plan
  2. Kenya Railway Corporation
  3. Kenya Vision 2030 Project Profile: Nairobi Commuter Rail Network
  4. Kenya Vision 2030 Project Profile: Mombasa-Nairobi-Malaba Corridor
  5. Kenya Railways Presentation showing map of project area

3 thoughts on “Kenya Railway Expansion

  1. Kenya railways is farce including the new Standard gauge. it has failed us always. I do not see economics at all in any proposals so far.

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  2. i do appreciate the work that has been done and the ones that are on going, but i still dont understand what is being constructed just next to the LIKONI ROAD bridge in NAIROBI. has someone grabbed the land or is it part of the ongoing construction work by KR? n if so, is it a new station under construction? thank u.

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