Kenya Railways acquires 7 more trains for Nairobi-Kisumu route
![Kenya Railways acquires 7 more trains for Nairobi-Kisumu route Kenya Railways acquires 7 more trains for Nairobi-Kisumu route](https://citizentv.obs.af-south-1.myhuaweicloud.com/16364/conversions/Kisumu-train-station-og_image.jpg)
File photo of the Kisumu Railway station. PHOTO/COURTESY: Kenya Railways
Kenya
Railways is set to add seven additional trains to the Nairobi-Kisumu route in a
bid to meet the growing demand for services on the circuit.
The company is likewise looking to increase the frequency of trips on the
route from one per week to three and extend its services to Butere. The
Butere route is 90 percent complete according to Kenya Railways.
The
locomotives, whose buying price is yet to be established, are expected in
the country by the end of March.
“The
seven-passenger locomotives that we have procured from China are almost
complete and we shall receive them by the end of March and we intend to start
using them in April,” Kenya railways regional manager for Kisumu Michael Disi
is quoted as saying by the Business Daily.
“The
purchase of the locomotives has been necessitated by the demonstrated increase
of passengers from the two regions who are willing to use the railway line.”
An
increase in the number of trains, Disi added, will make travel convenient for
persons plying the route while augmenting various economic sectors in the
region.
“We
shall be having two trains on the line, when one is departing Nairobi, another
one is leaving Kisumu. These trains will ensure that passengers can travel at
night from Kisumu to Nairobi and return in the evening after finishing their
business,” said Disi.
The Nairobi-Kisumu train services were
reinstated in December 2021, after a decade-long hiatus owing to a dilapidated
railway line. Commuters travelling from Nairobi
to Kisumu pay Ksh. 600 for second class coaches while first-class coaches set
back users Ksh. 2,000 each.
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