Standard gauge railway station in Miritini, Mombasa. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NMG
The Kenya Railways Corporation has announced plans to build a
2-kilometre Standard Gauge Railway line linking the SGR Miritini
passenger train terminus to the Central Mombasa train station.
The move is aimed at enhancing faster movement of passengers between the two locations.
Mombasa-bound
passengers travelling on the SGR train from Nairobi have been alighting
at the Miritini terminus, forcing them to finish the journey by road
where they spend up to five hours to cover the 22 kilometre distance.
Those
heading to western parts of Mombasa, including Mikindani, Moi
International Airport and Jomvu, have been bearing the brunt of the
traffic jam blamed on trucks carrying cargo from Mombasa port.
“The
line will provide services for people leaving Syokimau train terminus
to Mombasa and those coming from Mombasa to Nairobi by train via the
Miritini terminus,” said Kenya Railway managing director Atanas Maina.
Speaking
in Nairobi on Thursday, Mr Maina said feasibility studies to ascertain
the actual cost of the project are ongoing and will take one month.
Once
a feasibility study is done, he said, the project will start as soon as
funds are available. Works on the high speed line, he said, will take
about 12 months to complete.
“The feasibility studies
and preliminary designs will help in defining the various issues
relevant in determining whether the project is worthwhile or not. China
Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), China Railway Design Corporation and
APEC Consortium Limited are doing the studies.”
CRBC
is among the latest in a growing list of Chinese firms to be involved
in the SGR project, a move that is set to raise criticism over the
transparency of the process.
Kenyan officials
acknowledge that there was no public bidding for the Mombasa to Nairobi
SGR line, which they said was a condition of Chinese lenders to help
fund construction. The line cost Sh447.5 billion including financing
costs.
China’s biggest freight wagon manufacturer,
CRRC Qiqihar, has also been contracted to service locomotives and wagons
while another Chinese firm — China Communications Construction Company
is set to operate the new railway line for five years.
They are also building phase 2A of the 120 kilometre Nairobi-Naivasha line at a cost of Sh150 billion.
Phase
2A of the SGR project will be followed up by Phase 2B that will extend
the SGR to Kisumu at an estimated cost of Sh350 billion, a bulk of which
is expected to be financed through loans from Exim Bank of China.
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