Currently, commuter trains are limited to a few estates with only a few
stations including at Syokimau and Imara Daima on Mombasa Road.
PHOTO/FILE
By NEVILLE OTUKI, notuki@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
The construction of light commuter rails to link
Nairobi estates with the city centre is set to start after viability
studies of the Sh14 billion project meant to ease congestion on roads.
The project, which has been on the cards for the past five
years, will involve construction of nine railway transport corridors
whose trains will pick commuters from several estates and drop them at
the Nairobi Railway Station in the Central Business District (CBD).
The nine commuter corridors include Ruiru-Thika,
Juja Road-Kangundo, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport-Athi River,
Lang’ata Road-Karen and Upper Hill-Ngong.
Others are Kabete-Kikuyu, Gigiri-Limuru and Outer Ring Road in the city’s Eastlands area.
“Feasibility study has been completed and the
preparation of terms of reference for detailed designs is ongoing,”
reads a government note prepared by the Planning ministry.
The government seeks to ride on deep-pocketed
private investors to offer Sh14 billion ($138 million) and expertise for
the construction of the city railroads under a public-private
partnership (PPP).
In the deal, private firms will invest in the
project, operate it for an agreed period to recoup their expenses and
profit before handing it over to the State.
Nairobi residents continue to grapple with traffic
jams daily as road expansion has failed to keep pace with the volume of
cars being added to the roads.
Efforts to find out construction dates were
unsuccessful as phone calls and text messages to the project
implementing agency Kenya Railways Corporation’s managing director
Atanas Maina went answered.
Currently, commuter trains are limited to a few
estates with only a few stations including at Syokimau and Imara Daima
on Mombasa Road.
Other routes with train services include Embakasi, Ruiru, Kahawa and Kikuyu.
The proposed mass commuter trains are part of the
wider Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) that aims
to integrate different transport models to ease congestion, including
heavy rail, light rail and a bus rapid transit.
The bus rapid transit will involve construction of
dedicated lanes on the roads for well-organised, large-capacity buses
aimed at improving public commuter service and easing congestion.
The special bus routes will run alongside the
normal highways except within the CBD where they will be elevated
through construction of double-decker roads.
Kenya Railways has been looking to expand its ‘park
and ride’ concept that was implemented in its stations at Syokimau and
Imara Daima.
It involves car owners leaving their vehicles at the
stations parking area at a lower parking fee (about Sh100) and taking
the train to the city
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