High speeds, haulage after RVR facelift

Rehabilitation of the railway network between Mombasa and Nairobi will begin in the next one month following the signing of Sh14.7 billion deal.
This is expected to increase the speed of haulage between the two cities as the firm readies it self for a turnaround after years in the woods.

The deal is spread across five years, focusing more on rehabilitating the assets of the century old company.

Mr Brown Ondego, Rift Valley Railways executive chairman, said the process has already taken off, with an international tender advertisement for the work already in place.

Desired speeds

“The rehabilitation will see us stabilise the railway to enable desired speeds from the current levels which are very slow,” said Mr Ondego on the sidelines of the signing ceremony.

The revamp is expected to increase the speed at which the locomotives will travel between the two cities at a cost of Sh1.9 billion ($20 million). This will be followed by improvement on the company’s locomotives and wagons to increase its capacity in the rail transport business.