Kenya will start running the standard gauge railway 10 years after launch.
In the meantime, an Australian engineering firm will jointly run and maintain the line with China Road and Bridge Company.
John
Holland, a subsidiary of the China Communications Construction Company,
will ink the deal with the government and the China company on March
31, as plans to launch the Mombasa-Nairobi railway line enter the
homestretch.
Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet
Secretary James Macharia said the contract will allow the government to
train enough engineers to run the line afterwards, he said on Wednesday.
“We
are working closely with the contractor to train Kenyans. We have sent
about 60, out of a planned 100 people. We are also working with the
contractor and local universities to make sure that we have a dedicated
curriculum on railway engineering.”
John Holland, which
is based in Melbourne, specialises in construction of railroads and
tunnelling in New Zealand, South East Asia and the Middle East.
On
its website, the company lists the building of the Perth City Link rail
project worth $360 million (about Sh36 billion), the Southwestern
Metropolitan Railway worth $400 million (about Sh40 billion) and the
fully-automated Sydney Metro Northwest system as projects it took part
in.
The signing ceremony in Nairobi will signal the start
of train runs on a line set for completion in 2018. The firms will be
required to monitor the functioning of the line and repair any damages.
They will also manage ticketing and scheduling of trains.
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All ready by May 15
China
Road and Bridge Company says construction of all the nine stations on
the 472km railroad between Mombasa and Nairobi, as well as all other
facilities, should be complete by May 15, two weeks to the official
launch by President Kenyatta on June 1.
In an update to
journalists last week, Mr Macharia said Kenya Power will provide a
dedicated line of electricity to all the nine train stations.
By
last week, workers were putting final touches to the main station in
Mombasa, near the Moi International Airport. The station will have
close-circuit security cameras, VIP and ordinary sections, boards
announcing train schedules, ticketing offices and shops.
The railway will also be under tight security. The Ministry of Interior will provide a special police unit for this.
The
government estimates that about 40 per cent of cargo will be
transported through the railway line, saving regular maintenance costs
of roads. It could carry about 22 million tonnes of cargo, according to
estimates from the Ministry of Transport.
The current line constructed in the 1900s carries about 10 per cent of cargo annually and is very slow.
More new roads
But where will this leave road transporters? Mr Macharia says they will still have business.
“There
are new roads coming up. When you take 40 per cent cargo off our roads,
there is still a lot of cargo because we are opening up more roads,” he
said.
“We will be constructing the 580km road from Lamu to Garissa and on to Isiolo. We could have some transporters using that road.”
There
are also plans to link the railway with the Lamu Port currently under
construction. The government will be constructing a Sh200 billion link
railroad from Lamu to Mombasa.
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