SGR Train Stalls Mid-Journey Over Mysterious Bag

Passengers travel to Mombasa using a Madaraka Express train at the Nairobi terminus in Syokimau.
Passengers travel to Mombasa using a Madaraka Express train at the Nairobi terminus in Syokimau.
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A Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train stopped mid-journey after a suspicious bag was found abandoned on the railway line.

Confirming the incident, Coast Regional Commissioner John Elungata, stated that the train had to be stopped for one hour at Miasenyi - before proceeding with the journey.

He further noted that the mysterious bag was dropped near a railway bridge on Sunday, March  21.

"We wanted to establish the contents of the bag that had been dropped at the foot of the railway bridge at Miasenyi," stated Elungata according to Daily Nation.

A train in the revamped Nairobi Commuter Rail system
A train in the revamped Nairobi Commuter Rail system
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Kenya Railways

The train was headed to Mombasa from Nairobi when the incident occured.

The sudden stop caused disruption in service delivery across the busy route with passengers who were scheduled to leave Mombasa at 3 p.m. after the arrival of the train, forced to wait for an extra hour.

A video shared online also showed that the passengers who were on board had been angered by the crew's immediate lack of explanation after the stall.

"Some of us are going to Malindi and Lamu. What problem is there? You are not communicating," protested one of the passengers who was on board.

The train has a capacity of 960 passengers in a single trip.

As recent as mid-January, another train operated by Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) stalled in Nanyuki forcing 1,500 stranded passengers to spend the night in the cold.

The train reportedly developed mechanical problems, before stalling at a remote ravine in Nyeri County.

Prior to that, a train ferrying students from Nairobi County to Nanyuki arrived late in the evening leaving hundreds of commuters stranded on Monday, January 4, when students were reopening.

The stalling disoriented most of the students who arrived late to their schools.

Passengers were forced to walk after a train derail on January 15, 2021.
Passengers were forced to walk after a train derailed on January 15, 2021.
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