Kenya Railways suspends commuter rail services in four stations for 11 days

 

Railway services in four major Nairobi Commuter stations have been suspended for 11 days.

This comes as Kenya Railways on Wednesday announced the scaling down of Nairobi Commuter Rail services during the festive season. 

This will see the commuter rail services which operating to Embakasi, Syokimau, Ruiru and Kikuyu be suspended from December 24, 2020, until January 3rd, next year. 

The announcement was made by the Kenya Railways management through a public notice.

However, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport express service and the Madaraka Express passenger service will still continue to operate as usual.

Also, the Nairobi-Nanyuki Rail Service will be operational.

At the same time, Kenya Railways has also adjusted the Nairobi- Nanyuki Rail service schedule to accommodate increased demand by passengers travelling during the festive season.

There will be a train from The Central Railway station on December 24, 2020, to Nanyuki and one returning back to the capital on Sunday, December 27, 2020.

The departure time on both dates will be at 9:00 a.m. with commuters only paying Sh.200 for economy class and Sh.1000 for Business.

The train will make its various stops at Thika, Mitubiri, Makuyu, Maragua, Murang’a, Sagana, Karatina, Kiganjo and Naro Moru.

The Nairobi Commuter Rail Service (NCR) was introduced in May 1992 in response to a series of strikes by the Matatu minibus operators.

But over the years, there has been a low level of demand which according to the new managing director has been due to poor standards of the station’s facilities.

On November 10, 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Nairobi Commuter Rail System which consisted of new Diesel Mobile Units and Commuter Rail Buses.

The Nairobi Central Station will serve as the nerve centre of operations connecting to 10 stations.

Currently, there are commuter train services on Nairobi - Imara Daima-Syokimau route, Nairobi - Githurai - Mwiki - Kahawa – Ruiru route, Nairobi-Embakasi route, and Nairobi - Kibera – Kikuyu route.

Kenya Railways is targeting to serve up to 230,000 passengers daily once the commuter rail is launched.

The JKIA expressway is an extension of the Nairobi commuter rail service targeting air travellers and airport users.

It was launched on December 7, 2020, by Transport CS James Macharia and Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga.

It is expected to target over 24,000 passengers, workers and other users of the airport once it will be launched.

Passengers willing to use the JKIA express route would have to part with Sh500 but was reduced to Sh 250 for the next 90 days

This is inclusive of the BRT buses that will ferry to the airport them once they reach the Embakasi station.