The Kenya Railways Corporation has responded to the viral photos of students seated on the floor while others were standing on Sunday evening after an uproar from Kenyans.
In a statement issued on Monday, May 13, the corporation revealed that it had received an overwhelming demand for passenger trains after the government's announcement on school reopening for the second term.
According to Kenya Railways, the demand was majorly seen on Sunday, May 12 and Monday, May 13 as students headed back to school following an extended break forced by flooding.
The corporation emphasised that it was working to ensure all travellers were accommodated and all students arrived safely to their various destinations.
Furthermore, Kenya Railways explained that it had introduced additional coaches in both economy and first class to accommodate the students who had booked earlier before the postponement of the school opening dates.
"However, the demand over the last two days has been overwhelming," read part of the statement.
Kenya Railways on April 29 announced an extension on the usage of all tickets bought for students after the government postponed school reopening dates.
The corporation revealed that students will be able to use the tickets from May 6 to May 10.
However, after the directive that students should reopen schools today, a number of Kenyans complained that students were forced to sit on the commuter train's floor at night for hours since seats were overbooked.
According to the reports circulating online, the students were on the 10 pm SGR train from Mombasa to Nairobi on Sunday. Kenyans were outraged adding that it was uncomfortable for the students due to the long distance.
A section of Kenyans criticised Kenya Railways for failing to reserve the seats for students after the government announced the new reopening dates.
"They should have disabled bookings beforehand, and reserved the seats for the students who had booked earlier but missed to travel due to changes in school openings. The affected students must be compensated heavily," one person commented.
The corporation was urged to take better measures to avoid such a scenario in the future.
