The Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) is pursuing a programme aimed at addressing the chronic Nairobi County traffic menace.
Through systems, it has partnered with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Youth Service (NYS) in its efforts to ensure that it ferries over 60 million customers a month.
Speaking to the press, Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga noted that the new programme dubbed Nairobi Commuter Rail Service (NCRS) would encompass different modes of transportation across the city including the rail system as well as the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system.
KDF has enhanced the new system by refurbishing the rail system both within and without the city.
“The main idea behind what the government under the leadership of President Kenyatta wants to accomplish is to decongest the roads and bring a smile to the faces of many city commuters.
“This is part of our last mile project that entails decongesting the city and making it business-friendly. Already the demand has gone up which means that every one hour we will have our trains moving,” he told Nation.
Under the banner dubbed Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Master Plan, Kenya Railways aims to link all major transport systems for seamless integration and comfort services for the commuters.
The corporation is also looking to construct a railways link between the Nairobi Central Business District and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) which will complement the BRT system that is already in use.
To ease operations, KRC is also seeking to have flight departure and arrival details displayed at the Nairobi Central Railway Station as well as Syokimau Station for the customers.
Under the system, there are also new stations expected to be set up with the help of KDF including the upgrading of the track and signaling systems.
Estates earmarked for new stations in Nairobi include Buru Buru, Pipeline, Umoja, Githurai and Donholm.
This is another attempt to fix the city's transport system following the construction of the Green Park Terminus by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) headed by Major General Mohammed Badi.
The initial trial runs of the new terminus have proved more chaotic.
The state is also seeking to introduce park and ride activities across peripheral towns including Kasarani and Ruiru to reduce the amount of traffic getting into Nairobi CBD.
It is estimated that Kenya loses Ksh50 million daily due to traffic jams in Nairobi, with motorists wasting hours on the roads.
