One week after the Maai Mahiu SGR Station was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta, residents are up in arms over decrying inaccessibility after the 20km road leading to the station was rendered impassable.
Residents who spoke to KTN News on Thursday, October 24, appealed to the government to urgently repair the road if the SGR was to benefit the area.
Maai Mahiu residents who showed up to the station to catch a train to Nairobi were shocked to find only guards patrolling the facility.
KBC had earlier reported that the station had been closed following heavy downpour in the area, but when Kenyans.co.ke contacted the Kenya Railways Corporation, it was established that the station was not yet open to the public.
Benson Mungai, a local, revealed that passengers intending to travel to Nairobi were rerouted to Suswa station, 30km from Maai Mahiu.
“We saw the train here on Saturday and Sunday and only drops passengers here while those wishing to board it are told to travel all the way to Suswa in Narok County." Mungai reiterated.
Peter Ngigi, a local elder, mirrored Mungai's remarks adding that it had become expensive to travel by train to Nairobi from Maai Mahiu owing to the poor road network.
According to Ngigi, it was of no economic sense to spend more than Ksh500 to the station only to board the train at Ksh100 and called on the government to expedite the rehabilitation of the road to the area.
“You will pay Ksh300 for a motorcycle to take you to the station then you are told to travel all the way to Suswa pay another Ksh 250 only to board the train at Ksh 100 while a Matatu from Maai Mahiu to Nairobi costs Ksh 200”. Ngigi decried.
An officer from the Kenya Railways spoke to Kenyans.co.ke and refuted claims from Maai Mahiu residents, stating that the station's closure was not as a result of poor roads, it was not yet operational.
