Four locomotives arrive at Mombasa port

Four locomotives and two Shatners (railway engines) arrived at the Mombasa port on Monday as the Sh372 billion standard gauge railway takes shape.

Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Catherine Mturi-Wairi received the cargo, which arrived aboard the MV Kota Bistari from manufacturer China Railway Rolling Stock.

The locomotives were imported by the Chinese Engineering, Procurement and Construction Company and China Road and Bridge Corporation for the multibillion-shilling project expected to be launched in June.

The equipment arrived on Sunday night and is the first batch of locomotives expected to haul modern wagons along the railway ahead of their commissioning on Wednesday.

SHORTER TRAVEL TIME

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia is expected to flag off the locomotive engines.

The Shatners are railway engines but do not pull wagons. They are used to test the efficiency and suitability of the railway line before the locomotives use them.

Ms Mturi-Wairi received the equipment accompanied by general manager for technical services Joseph Atonga, corporate services manager Martin Mutuku and head of security Mariam Hamisi.

President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto have said the first train will set off from Nairobi to Mombasa on June 1.

The new railway line is the biggest infrastructure project in Kenya since independence. It will shorten passenger travel time from Mombasa to Nairobi from more than 10 hours to about four hours while freight trains will complete the 609km journey in less than eight hours.

ORDINARY TRAINS

The Mombasa-Nairobi section constitutes the first phase of the project, with plans to connect Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan in subsequent phases.

Although the project that began in 2013 was initially scheduled to be completed in 2018, the government has said it will be ready this year.

The railway, which will complement the slower, narrow-gauge network operated by Rift Valley Railways, was budgeted to cost Sh372 billion but this could rise to Sh447.5 billion.

The main contractor is China Road and Bridge Corporation, with 90 per cent of the financing coming from the Exim Bank of China and 10 per cent from the Kenyan government.

INVESTMENT BOOST

It is estimated that more than 25,000 Kenyans have been hired to work on the railway as labourers or permanent staff for various tasks.

The project is expected to open up the Southern Corridor for major economic investments.

Upon completion, the railway, whose design capacity is 22 million tons per year, will be operated for five years by the Chinese company.

Passenger services will run from Changamwe in Mombasa West to Nairobi South in Syokimau, where travellers can transfer to ordinary trains to the city.

Freight train services will operate from the Mombasa port to an inland container depot at Embakasi in Nairobi.