Initiated by the retiring Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya has refurbished a 240KM railway running from its Capital City Nairobi to Nanyuki, a tourist, industrial and agricultural town in the North of the city.
The project was done purely by locals through Kenya’s youth service and the defense forces.
The line was constructed in 1913 and later extended to Nanyuki during the course of the world War II to supply British Forces with equipment.
It became the bloodline for farmers in the agricultural rich region being used mostly to transport agricultural products from the stops in Nanyuki, Karatina and Sagana.
However, It had been derelict since the late 1990s when it was last used, and some sections had completely fallen away.
Railway running corporation-Kenya Railways expects to generate more than 3.5 million US dollars per year from the revived 240km Nairobi-Nanyuki railway line.
“In the first year, we are projecting handling a total of 106,000 tons of fuel, 94,000 tons of conventional cargo and 24,000 head of livestock for the imports category and export goods amounting to 50,000 tons,” Kenya Railways head of commercial operations James Siele said in an interview with Africa 24.
“Investors ferrying livestock from Laikipia county will be paying KSh730 per ton of cattle and KSh465 per ton of small animals.
Other cargo such as fertiliser, cereals, hardware and farm products among other general cargo will be ferried to and from Nairobi for KSh1,400 per ton.
Investors ferrying imports stocked in Nairobi will pay KSh20,000 per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container from Nairobi to Nanyuki.”
Petroleum products being the key cargo for this line, Kenya Railways will be charging about KSh82,000 for a single 50-tonne of the fuel tank, with a tonne costing KSh1,640
While on a familiarisation tour of the line on August 12, Petroleum CS John Munyes said the transportation of petroleum products through the train will help solve some of the challenges such as adulteration. It will also remove trucks from the road.
“This is a milestone as the line will also help sectors such as agriculture and mining,” he said.
The newly refurbished 16.5 Million US dollars railway line is expected to pave the way for cheaper and safer transportation of fuel to the Central Region Economic Bloc.
It will also improve the economy of the region by providing efficient and faster transportation of agricultural produce to the market.
