Kenyans in the western region are set to enjoy the return of the rail service after a Ksh3.7 billion project to connect the Standard Gauge to the Malaba border was approved.
Treasury CS Ukur Yatani, in the supplementary budget for 2020/21, allocated funds for the line connecting Naivasha - Malaba to the standard gauge railway amounting to Ksh 3.7 billion.
The burden shifted to Kenyan taxpayers after the government was not able to secure the multibillion loan from China to kickstart extend the SGR line to Kisumu.
The new plan will see the SGR extended from the Naivasha Inland Container Depot to Longonot at a cost of Ksh1 billion. The old railway line (Metre Gauge Railway) will then be rehabilitated from Longonot to Malaba.
“Sh2.7 billion is for construction of the Naivasha ICD-Longonot railway link and Sh1 billion is for the rehabilitation of the Longonot-Malaba MGR,” Yatani in a supplementary budget he presented in parliament.
The government had earlier on partnered with a private investor to finance the project under a Chinese contractor but later on, bailed after the contractor tendered an extra Ksh50 billion. This stalled the project that was to be completed in eight months.
Construction of the 23.5kilometre rail that began in August 2020 is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
China Road and Bridge Corporation which was contracted for the first and second phase standard gauge railway from Mombasa port to Naivasha is in collaboration with Kenya Railways in constructing the rail.
The economic feasibility of the standard gauge railway is hooked on the connection to Kampala via the Malaba link as it connects the port to the landlocked country. On completion, it will ease the transportation of cargo and passengers from the Port of Mombasa to Uganda and the neighboring countries.
Uganda was allocated land to put up a dry port in Naivasha for its cargo, as part of the mutual SGR project between the two countries. This was meant to serve the country in preparation for the construction of the link railway.
