RVR completes rehabilitation of Mombasa-Nairobi railway line

By Vision reporter

Rift Valley Railways (RVR), the operator of the Kenya-Uganda railway, has completed the replacement of 73km of railway track between Mombasa and Nairobi at an investment cost of about sh51b (about $20m).

The development is a boost for a region that seems to be squarely facing up to the abject state of its infrastructure that has hampered business competitiveness because of the turnaround time from Mombasa.

Last week presidents Yoweri Museveni, Uhuru Kenyatta and Paul Kagame who met in Kampala made major pronouncements on the railway line, whose development has stalled for almost 10 years.

A statement from RVR says completion of the railway modernisation project has reduced cargo delivery time between Mombasa and Nairobi by six hours through rebuilding the most badly rundown sections that were responsible for 60% of blockage time on the railway line.

“RVR’s investment in building this new stretch of railroad is a significant milestone as this railway line had been ailing for lack of investment for over a decade prior to the concession,” said RVR vice-chairman Brown Ondego.

Construction of the new railway line included the laying of 10,000 sleepers to retain track geometry and improve safety. The upgrade is part of a larger railway track modernisation programme that will see the rebuilding of over 360km of the most affected sections of the railroad in Kenya and Uganda.

“The completion of this project under our continuing track upgrading programme has considerably improved the reliability and efficiency of our operations. We are now operating larger-capacity trains and, as a result, have improved our loading capacity and reduced travel hours,” Ondego added.

The 10-month reconstruction project awarded contracts worth over sh13b to Kenyan contractors and suppliers and paid over sh873m in wages to workers recruited from SMEs under a partnership programme with communities living along the railway line.

Commenting on the faster cargo delivery, Steve Felder, the managing director of Maersk shipping agency, noted: “As a shipping line, we welcome this development as we are convinced that it will improve the safe and reliable transport of our customer’s cargo and create more demand for rail transport between Mombasa and Nairobi.”

Ondego said RVR is on course with significant investments to introduce innovations in operations and modernise infrastructure both in Kenya and Uganda in order to ensure a dependable and well-functioning railway that can spur growth and regional economic integration throughout East Africa.

He said improved reliability has been one of the immediate benefits and the number of incidents declined 20% last month.
RVR completes rehabilitation of Mombasa-Nairobi railway line