The first batch of the passenger and cargo trains that will operate on the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) were handed to Kenya during a Locomotive Delivery Ceremony in China.
The 12 trains branded with the Kenyan flag were given to the Kenya Railways Corporation by China's CRRC Qishuyan Locomotive Co Limited.
According to Senior Director of Digital Communication at State House Dennis Itumbi the locomotives are set to arrive in the country before the end of January.
Though the model of the locomotives has not been specified, the company procuring them has described the passenger train as having a capacity of 1000 passengers and travel speed of 120KM/hr. On the other hand, the cargo train has a speed of 80KM/hr with a cargo capacity of 4000 tonnes.
The cost of procuring the trains is part of the Sh327 Billion contract issued to the project's contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation.
The SGR is one the Jubilee administration's flagship projects and the government recently assured that the 472-Kilometre Mombasa-Nairobi section of the project will be completed by June 2017.
Going by the description of the passenger trains, once the project is complete it will take 4 hours and 30 minutes non-stop from Mombasa to Nairobi.
The second phase of the project, which is set to begin in January at a cost of Sh153 Billion, will be a 120-Kilometre railway line connecting Nairobi and Naivasha.
Here is the video:
