Kenya (Commonwealth) _Fifty new Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) carriages have been sent to Kenya with the intention of increasing cargo transportation on the Chinese-constructed line.
Kipchumba Murkomen, the secretary of the Transport Cabinet, accepted the wagons on Monday. They were purchased for the Madaraka Express SGR freight service. After being loaded at the Tianjin port in China at the end of last month, a second batch of 250 wagons is anticipated to arrive at the port of Mombasa later this month, according to Mr. Murkomen.
According to Mr. Murkomen, railroad transportation is essential to realizing the goals outlined in Vision 2030, our nation’s long-term economic plan. Accordingly, the ministry will make sure that it has the necessary operating resources, human capital, and information systems in place to help us reach this objective, he continued.
This shipment of wagons and coaches is the first to be imported in the last six years. Since the introduction of SGR in May 2017, there have never been more wagons installed. At the time, the new railway that connects Mombasa, Nairobi, and Suswa was equipped with sixty wagons, which were sent to Kenya.
Twenty of the anticipated wagons, according to Mr. Murkomen, will also have power plugs, opening up a previously unrealized revenue stream for SGR by allowing the transportation of chilled containers.
Sh2.1 trillion plan to expand SGR
According to Mr. Murkomen, the refrigerated carriages will significantly benefit Kenya’s horticulture industry by allowing train services to cater to the demands of global passengers. Kenya and its allies in the Netherlands have also reached a cold-chain logistics agreement in order to achieve this.
He said that Kenya anticipates receiving 20 more SGR passenger coaches. Six of them will provide accommodations for those with impairments. By the end of June 2027, Kenya hopes to have completed a Sh2.1 trillion plan to expand the SGR to Kisumu, Malaba, and Isiolo.
The original proposal called for the SGR to go to Kisumu, a city beside a lake, and then link to the Ugandan border town of Malaba. The SGR now stops abruptly in Naivasha, which makes it difficult to transfer freight out of the area on the current railway route. The SGR’s debt repayment is continuing to deplete the nation’s declining foreign exchange reserves.
Kenya’s January payments to China for the SGR loans increased by Sh14 billion due to the shilling’s decline, which increased the country’s foreign debt and associated servicing expenses. Kenya will pay $536.9 million (Sh84.8 billion) to cover its foreign debt, according to statistics from the World Bank. Loan payments are made twice a year in January and July. $289.95 million in principle and $246.96 million in interest make up the payments.
The 21.2 percent rise in income in the fiscal year ending in June 2023 may have been mitigated by higher financing expenses for the SGR. SGR recorded a record Sh18.2 billion in income during the time, according to data from the Kenya Railways Corporation. This is a huge increase from the Sh15.01 billion it received the previous year.
Moving cargo transportation from the roads to the rail is the main goal, according to officials, who have waved off the first batch of 500 wagons to be used for rail freight ferries.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kapchumba Murkomen stated that 250 additional SGR wagons are anticipated in Kenya from China within two weeks, while the remaining 200 Meter Gauge Railway wagons are anticipated within three months. He made this announcement at the Port Reitz Freight Station in Mombasa when he formally waved off 50 wagons.
The new wagons, each with a capacity of at least 70 tonnes, according to Murkomen, would increase the ability of Kenya Railways Corporation to move freight. As it lessens damage to our roads, this is commendable, stated the Transport Cabinet Secretary.
Murkomen claims that 20 coaches have been imported by the government for the Madaraka Express service. He claims that the coaches—four first-class, three business-class, twelve economy, and one power car—are anticipated in Kenya. “Of these, six will have facilities for individuals with disabilities,” he stated.
“We are glad that through the ministry we have been able to get the required financing to increase our fleet in terms of wagons and the number of locomotives that we use to move cargo,” stated Philip Mainga, managing director of Kenya Railways Corporation.
The number of passengers on the Madaraka Express climbed by 12% to 2,727,727 in 2023, while the volume of goods transported on the Standard Gauge Railway increased by 7% to 6,533,028 tones.
