This archive report was first published on 25 September 2021.
On September 25, 2021, Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga announced the completion of rehabilitation works on the 24-kilometre old rail lines between Naivasha Inland Container Depot and the existing Longonot railway station at a total cost of Sh3.5 billion.
The rehabilitation works will enable seamless transportation of cargo across the country and to the East African region by rail, with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line from Mombasa to Naivasha Depot being 1.35 meters wide and the old Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) being 1 meter.
Mainga told a parliamentary committee that the corporation will immediately commence tests and trials on the rail line in preparation for its commissioning by President Kenyatta in November 2021.
The link between the SGR line and the MGR line at Longonot station will create two corridors, one being from Kisumu through the Lake to Portbell in Uganda and through Malaba by rail.
According to Mainga, the railway has transported 4 million tonnes of cargo from the port of Mombasa, with the railway economy contributing 2 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
