This archive report was first published on 18 July 2020.
Kenya Railways Corporation has made a U-turn on its earlier stance, deciding to upgrade the old Nakuru-Kisumu railway line, a project that will see the line being refurbished using locally available manpower to cut costs.
The project, which is expected to take eight months, will see Kenya Railways Engineers and the National Youth Service (NYS) work together to refurbish the 100-year-old rail line.
The upgrade is part of Kenya's efforts to make Lake Victoria a crucial transport corridor in the shipment of general cargo into and out of the East African region.
According to Philip Mainga, the Kenya Railways Corporation managing director, the refurbished line will connect to the recently refurbished Sh3 billion Kisumu port, enabling ferrying of cargo and passengers to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo on ships via Lake Victoria.
Kenya had initially planned to extend the standard gauge railway (SGR) to Kisumu and later to the Ugandan border, but failed to secure a multi-billion shilling loan from China, which funded the first and second phases of the project.
The old line, which had a thriving passenger service in the 1990s, will form the major supply route to deliver cargo to the neighboring countries through the Kisumu port.
Mr. Mainga said that Kenya will fund the upgrade of the Kisumu line from internal resources, cutting reliance on Chinese loans for railway projects.
The old line from Naivasha to Malaba has been operational but is in bad condition, limiting the cargo volumes and train speeds.
Published on July 18, 2020
