Wednesday, July 3, 2024 Kenya’s capital, Nairobi , has recently received an additional 20 passenger trains from China’s CRRC, enhancing the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). This delivery is part of a 2023 contract aimed at populating the Chinese-built SGR with modern rolling stock. The trains delivered by CRRC comprise first-class and second-class cars, dining cars, power generation cars, and business-class cars.
This addition takes the total rolling stock provided by CRRC for the SGR to more than 60 units, with the first 41 trains delivered back in 2017. The introduction of these new trains marks a significant upgrade in the quality and efficiency of Kenya’s rail service, which historically relied on a slow and inefficient narrow gauge rail line established in 1896. The development of the Standard Gauge Railway was a major project initiated under the Belt and Road Initiative led by Chinese companies.
Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta prioritized the improvement of the railway connection between Nairobi and Mombasa, viewing it as a critical infrastructure project. Upon its opening in 2017, Kenyatta described the SGR as a “new chapter” for Kenya, highlighting its significance by noting that, after 122 years, Kenyans finally had a modern railway system. The upgraded railway has substantially reduced travel time between the two cities and improved the overall efficiency of cargo and passenger transport.
The enhancement of the Nairobi-Mombasa rail link.
