Kenya Railways (KR) has received the second batch of trains from Spain to increase its capacity in the Nairobi Metropolitan Area.
The six trains arrived earlier in May 2021 as confirmed by KR chairman Omudho Awitta who stated that the corporation was now looking to increase the frequencies of the trains.
The Nairobi Train service has been served by five Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) that were launched in 2020 and the new additions will see hourly operations in more routes in the area.
"The batch of six DMU’s has arrived in the country from Spain. We will now have trains running every hour across the Nairobi metropolitan area," Awitta disclosed.
KR had purchased 11 refurbished DMUs, five coaches, and spare parts from Spain at a negotiated price of Ksh1.15 billion.
The trains were acquired from the island of Mallorca after the island completed the adoption of electric trains in its modernisation plan.
The agency projected that the refurbished trains would be fully functional for the next 20 to 25 years.
Since the purchase, Kenya Railways has been operation various routes with Nairobi estates including Embakasi, Syokimau, Athi River as well as newer routes to Kikuyu and Lukenya.
Currently, the highest fare charged is Ksh100 which is to the Lukenya station while travellers from Limuru pay Ksh80.
With more trains, routes, and frequencies, the transport agency plans to increase its capacity from the current 13,000 to 132,000 passengers a day by 2022.
At the same time, rail service has been linked to a bus service in the Nairobi Commuter Service (NCS) offering commuters a direct connection to their respective places of work after using the trains to the Nairobi Central Station.
The busses serve Westlands, Yaya and Upper Hill area offering affordable pricing for between Ksh30 and Ksh50 from the Central Business District (CBD) to various destinations on the routes.
