Kenya Railways is set to double the price of fare for kids between the age of three and eleven for SGR's Madaraka Express.
This is after they revealed that they were working towards lifting existing subsidy that allowed kids to pay 50 per cent off the original fare price.
According to the Acting Managing Director Philip Mainga, the move was in a bid to raise enough revenue to ease taxpayers of the debt burden owed to China.
The new tariffs require that contrary to the Kshs 1500 fares for VIP and Kshs 500 for economy class, children will now have to pay Kshs 3000 for first-class and Kshs 1000 for economy class, same as adults.
“We are looking at the model where charges will be based on the seat irrespective of the traveler's age,” Mainga disclosed in an interview with Business Daily.
He, however, revealed that the subsidy lift would have to be approved by the Ministry of Transport.
“This is our proposal and it’s subject to approval by the ministry,” he clarified.
This comes months after the railway company increased cargo fees by 79 per cent, also to increase revenue to pay the China debt.
Kenya owes the China Exim bank over Kshs 324 billion for the SGR project.
Recent reports alleged that the country risks losing some of its strategic assets if, by any chance, the country defaults in the loan payment.
