The Kenya Railway Corporation (KRC) has earmarked seven commuter lines for upgrade and new trains as part of a strategy to decongest the capital through reliable commuting.
The rehabilitation covers the entire 165-kilometre Nairobi Commuter Rail network, which comprises key routes such as the Nairobi-Limuru, Nairobi-Thika, Nairobi-Konza, Nairobi-Embakasi Village, Ngong-Kiserian, Kiserian-Ongata Rongai to Nyayo Stadium as well as the Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) link.
“These interventions are expected to improve the safety, accessibility and reliability of the NCR (Nairobi Commuter Rail) services resulting in reduced travel time, increased user comfort, operating cost savings, and reduction of pollution, congestion and road accidents,” KRC said.
“The NCR network currently handles both passengers and freight services. Improvements to the existing network should be designed in a way that minimises disruption to ongoing operations,” the agency added in a tender call for consultancy to design the project, which will be implemented under the World Bank-backed Kenya Urban Mobility Improvement Project (KUMIP).
A disclosure by the World Bank on September 17, 2024, showed that the Kenyan government has applied for Sh86.58 billion ($670 million) financing from the multilateral lender for the KUMIP.
The KUMIP project aims to upgrade signalling and communication systems, automate fare collection system, acquire high-capacity commuter trains and improve intermodal connectivity and station area development within the NCR network.
“The NCR network, despite having a network coverage of 165km, faces aging facilities and infrastructure inadequacies which limit its utilisation for transportation of commuters,” KRC said.
The State-owned rail operator said the Nairobi-Ruiru-Thika line will be prioritised.
“The consultant will carry out the scope of work in such a way as to transfer knowledge to the staff of KRC and the relevant ministries and county governments, including on issues of railway engineering and operational design,” said KRC.
In the first half of last year, the Nairobi-Ruiru route was the second-most profitable after the long-haul train service to Kisumu, fetching Sh15.7 million from a total of 296,562 passengers who commuted on the route.
Other top earning routes during the period, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, were the Nairobi-Embakasi line, which earned Sh13.2 million, the SGR link route (Sh10.96 million) and the Nairobi-Kikuyu-Limuru route (Sh6.6 million).
Revenues from the meter gauge railway passenger service took the biggest hit in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic after full-year earnings plunged by over 50 percent to Sh82 million, from Sh167 million the previous year.
