Kenya Railways (KR) has embarked on improving the Naivasha train service with the installation of tracks to ensure the efficient movement of trains into the Inland Container Depot (ICD).
The transport agency is currently in the process of laying a Turning Wye (triangle) near the ICD in Naivasha.
The Turning Wye in railroad structures is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch (set of points) at each corner connecting to each incoming line.
Where two rail lines join, or in a joint between a railroad's mainline and a spur, wyes can be used as a mainline rail junction to allow incoming consists ability to travel either direction or in order to allow trains to pass from one line to the other line.
The use of triangular junctions allows flexibility in routing trains from any line to any other line, without the need to reverse the train.
With the section in place as part of the new ICD Naivasha - Longonot Line, the triangle will be used to turn locomotives and other railway equipment.
KR is also manufacturing reinforced concrete sleepers for the construction of the ICD Naivasha - Longonot Link Railway Line at the Sleeper and Beam Fabrication Plant (section 6) in Suswa.
The corporation has put in efforts to improve efficiency by dedicating two cargo trains daily from the port of Mombasa to Nairobi in order to deliver approximately 6,000 tonnes of cargo both for local and transit clients.
In a statement, KR revealed that the move is meant to increase the daily delivery to Nairobi and Naivasha Inland Container Depots (ICD).
The rail agency recently opened a new warehouse aimed at expanding the storage capacity at the Nairobi Transit shed.
Dubbed the National Cargo Deconsolidation Centre - Nairobi (NCDC-Nairobi), the warehouse would increase the number of cargo being cleared to roughly 300 containers per month.
In January 2021, Kenya Railways announced the resumption of a double stack cargo train service from the port of Mombasa via the SGR to the Inland Container Depot (ICD) Nairobi.
In a statement, KR announced that it had started loading and moving double-stack freight trains between Nairobi and the Port of Mombasa.
