Kenya: Standard Gauge Railway begins night train for passengers


Devdiscourse News Desk | Nairobi | Updated: 04-01-2021 14:59 IST | Created: 04-01-2021 14:58 IST
Kenya: Standard Gauge Railway begins night train for passengers
Representative image Image Credit: Twitter (@KenyaRailways_)
  • Country:
  • Kenya

Effective from 4 January 2021, the Kenya Railways is arranged to operate its third pair of passenger trains on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), according to a report by Citizen Digital.

Reportedly the Madaraka Express train will start its journey from both lines in Nairobi and Mombasa at night at 9 and will end its journey at 3 in the morning.

Adding to the commencement, Philip Mainga, the Managing Director of Kenya Railways said that the new set of trains are being started to complement the need for travel followed by the resumption of learning institutions across Kenya earlier this week.

“We are running this service because of the boom in passengers from the schools reopening with the aim of supporting parents, teachers and students moving from different locations. Airports and matatus have been overwhelmed,” said Mainga.

Reportedly, the Kenya Railway corporation was looking for and received exemption permitting for passengers to dismount from stations under curfew hours to different destination upon the assurance of ticketing.

“For as long as one has their ticket, there shouldn’t be a challenge in connecting. For Nairobi, we have no challenge as we have a commuter train which will bring passengers into the Central Business District (CBD) at around 4am,” Mainga added.

However, currently, the trains are scheduled to operate on the nights of Monday and Tuesday which will further determine if the commuter is required at night as a permanent feature. 

 

 

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