This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
On October 24, 2019, the newly commissioned Mai Mahiu Standard Gauge Railway station was shut down due to impassable roads leading to it, a week after President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned it in the second phase of the SGR from Nairobi to Naivasha.
The station, located about 20Kms from Mai Mahiu township, was characterized by abandoned buildings with only guards manning the area during a visit.
Residents are now calling on the government to rectify the roads situation as that would be the only way the area would be productive.
Addressing the press at the station, local leader Benson Mungai said passengers willing to travel to Nairobi from the station are referred to Suswa station, located 30kms from the rural area.
‘We saw the train here on Saturday and Sunday, but only drops passengers here while those wishing to board it are told to travel all the way to Suswa in Narok County,’ Mungai said.
Another resident, Peter Ngigi, echoed Mungai's sentiments, saying it had become expensive to travel by train to Nairobi from Mai Mahiu owing to the poor road network.
Ngigi said it was of no economical sense to spend more than Ksh 500 to the station only to board the train at Ksh 100 and called on the government to expedite the rehabilitation of the road to the area.
