This archive report was first published on 5 June 2020.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia announced plans to upgrade the Metre Gauge Railway (MGR) from Longonot to Malaba, bypassing Kisumu. The upgrade, which will take 12 months, will cost Sh3.5 billion.
Speaking in Nakuru on Tuesday, Macharia emphasized the importance of trains in cargo transport, stating that the country was moving with speed to connect the MGR with the Mombasa-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
According to Macharia, the Longonot-Malaba MGR will go through Nakuru and Eldoret towns, bypassing Kisumu. This decision comes despite the recent refurbishment of Kisumu Port.
“We will not be going through Kisumu Port. Instead, we will be using the new port for the transport of liquid petroleum which will be ferried to Port Bell in Kampala and port of Jinja in Uganda, using the recently acquired MV Uhuru, which has the ability to carry 1.2 million litres of petroleum per trip,” said Macharia.
The MGR upgrade is part of a larger plan to connect the MGR with the SGR at Naivasha, with the goal of reducing cargo transport time from three days to 10 hours. This will open up cargo destinations in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Meanwhile, Macharia announced that the Government has put up cargo handling machines at the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD), which will ensure efficient clearing services for trucks.
“There will be no trucks lining up for cargo. They will be cleared immediately as they come in. We will have clearing services operating efficiently,” said Macharia.
He also revealed that Rwanda, Uganda, and Southern Sudan have been given land around the Naivasha ICD to develop their cargo facilities, as part of attracting business around the ICD.
