This archive report was first published on 18 November 2021.
Published on November 18, 2021, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) passenger service has made a strong recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between May 2022 and August 2022, the SGR passenger service ferried an average of 200,000 passengers per month between Nairobi and Mombasa, surpassing the monthly average of 134,000 passengers seen in 2019.
Over the first eight months of 2022, the SGR passenger service carried 1.2 million passengers, generating Sh1.3 billion in revenue. This is a significant increase compared to the 379,000 passengers carried over a similar period in 2021.
However, the SGR passenger service was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The service was suspended between April and June 2020 due to government restrictions, and even after resumption in July 2020, it operated at 50% capacity until the end of the year.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the SGR cargo service, known as the Madaraka Freight Service, remained largely unaffected. In fact, the cargo service saw an increase in revenue and volume over the first eight months of 2022, with revenues reaching Sh8.9 billion and volume growing to 3.5 million tonnes.
Comparing the performance between 2020 and 2019, KNBS noted that cargo volume on SGR grew by 4.8% to 4.4 million tonnes in 2020, but revenue declined by 19.6% due to discounts offered by Kenya Railways.
