Members of Parliament (MPs) from Nakuru County have launched a bid to have the second phase of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line is re-routed to Nakuru Town ahead of its coronation into city status.
The Governor's bid has been echoed by lawmakers - David Gikaria (Nakuru Town East), Charity Kathambi (Njoro) and Samuel Arama (Nakuru Town West) - who argue that the railway line has proven to bring economic benefits to the towns where it passes.
"Nakuru town will greatly benefit from the SGR extension. It will help revive some of the collapsed industries and bolster the town’s economic status," MP Gikaria noted.
Njoro MP Kathambi emphasized that the rail's presence will promote and improve prospects for local businesses.
[caption caption="MP David Gikaria"]
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The Nakuru Town East MP added that consultations were in motion observing that regional leaders and the Governor would be involved.
Former Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Kamau Njuguna backed the politicians' call stating that Naivasha town also stood to benefit from the change of route.
“I am not opposed to the routing of the SGR, but my humble appeal is for the engineers doing design works to re-look the proposed route and see whether it can be redesigned to accommodate the two towns,” Mr Njuguna appealed during an interview.
He explained that the move will boost tourism and the hospitality industry in Nakuru and Naivasha.
The current design has the railway cutting through the Mai Mahi escarpment and across road B33. It will further pass south of Mount Longonot and end in Naivas ha.
Another proposed phase, 262, will kick off from Naivasha to Kisumu through Narok, Bomet and Sondu.
Industrial parks have also been proposed to be set up in a number of vantage points along the route of the government's railway project.
[caption caption="Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui"]
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