Barely two weeks to the launch of the Standard Gauge Railway
(SGR) Mombasa - Nairobi Service, Kenya Railways today received additional 17
freight locomotives, six (6) shunting locomotives, 50 flat wagons for
containers and 4 unit cranes for use in the SGR operations. The consignment was
offloaded today under the supervision of the Principal Secretary, Transport,
Prof. Paul. M. Maringa, Kenya Railways engineers, China Road and Bridge
Corporation, the EPC contractor for Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway project, and
the project supervisor, TSDI-APEC-EDON Consortium (TAEC).
The locomotives and rolling stock are a key deliverable
under SGR as they are the means by which the high capacity Standard Gauge
Railway will deliver Kenya's promise to her customers, including the cargo
owners. The locomotives will provide a vital service to the Nation and help
address the growing congestion on the roads in the country, with operations on
the line expected to stimulate economic activity especially in the areas
traversed by the Standard Gauge Railway line. The 25 tonne axle flat wagons on
the other hand, can carry a payload of 70 tonnes and are designed to run at 120
km/h. So far, the country has received 25 freight locomotives out of the 43 on
order; the full order of five (5) passenger and eight (8) shunting locomotives;
the full order of 40 Passenger coaches, as well as 763 Wagons out of the 1,620
on order.
Speaking on site at the Mombasa Port during the offloading
of the locomotives and wagons, the Transport Principal Secretary Prof. Paul M.
Maringa said that the government was keen on optimizing the SGR for freight
transport; destined locally and to the region - Uganda, Rwanda Burundi, South
Sudan and DRC.
“The SGR is the
backbone of Kenya’s multi modal infrastructure development and thus it will
play a key role is spurring economic growth. It is expected that freight uptake
via SGR will considerably increase rail transport capacity from the port once
the operations commence in December 2017, and in accordance with the commitment
made in the Mombasa Port Community Charter, signed in June 2014,” he explained.
Operation of freight
services is scheduled to begin once the expansion and modernisation of the
Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD) is completed and handling equipment
provided and installed. General freight will be offloaded at Nairobi Terminus,
whose construction is generally complete. Kenya Railways will operate the
freight trains between Mombasa Port and Nairobi as per the traffic volumes
available. The freight tariffs are being determined and will be published in
time for the commencement of the operations. The customers are guaranteed high
capacity trains with trailing loads of up to 4,000 tonnes, and high quality
freight service with a transit time of 10 hours on average between Mombasa and
Nairobi.
According to the Feasibility Study Report, SGR operations
would reduce freight transportation costs compared to roads transport costs
particularly as the volume offered to SGR increases. The cost of moving goods
across borders has become increasingly important as the EAC market players
continue to position their products in the global market.
On his part, Kenya
Railways' SGR Project Manager, Eng. Maxwell Mengich said, “Kenya Railways is ready
to play its part in growing the country’s economy. We are working with the
relevant agencies to ensure that all the interventions required at the Nairobi
Inland Container Depot are ready to handle the freight once we roll out the
service. We have also put in place sufficient spares and a robust maintenance
programme to minimize on locomotive failures and achieve best performance in
line with global practices,” he said.
The railway will
operate both freight and passenger trains and being a single line, 33 crossing
stations have been provided to facilitate crossing of trains. Seven (7) of
these stations will handle passenger trains, which will in addition be given
priority over the freight trains along the line in order to achieve shorter
transit times.
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