This archive report was first published on 27 September 2021.
On September 27, 2021, the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) announced plans to revive the Mombasa-Kisumu passenger train service, which had been out of operation for over a decade due to the poor state of the old metre-gauge railway (MGR).
The passenger train services will resume in December 2021, with the KRC confirming a December 2021 date for the resumption of services from Mombasa to Kisumu through Nairobi.
As part of the upgrade, a new 24.3 kilometre link has been constructed between Naivasha Inland Container Depot (NICD) and the existing Longonot railway station. The passenger train from Kisumu on the MGR will terminate at the Naivasha station, where passengers will be transferred to the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) via the new link.
According to KRC's Managing Director Philip Mainga, cargo and passenger services to Kisumu will be commissioned at the same time, posing a threat to the dominance of buses and matatus in long-distance travel between Mombasa, Kisumu and Nairobi.
The resumption of the train services promises to be a shot in the arm for Kisumu and the larger Western Kenya economy, offering a new route for transportation of goods from the Port of Mombasa to neighbouring countries including Uganda through the Kisumu port.
Works to upgrade the Kisumu Port have been completed, although it is yet to be officially commissioned for use.
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