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Kenya Railways has abruptly suspended the Madaraka Express passenger train service from Mombasa to Nairobi, citing unspecified technical issues.
The sudden cancellation, announced late Sunday night, left numerous passengers stranded at the Mombasa SGR Terminus, demanding answers and assistance.
The suspension was announced at approximately 9:30 p.m., 30 minutes before the scheduled 10:00 p.m. departure of the night train.
Passengers, many of whom had already arrived at the terminus, were caught off guard by the announcement.
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Hundreds of passengers were thrown into confusion at the Mombasa SGR Terminus on Sunday night
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One affected passenger, identified as Ben who had travelled to Diani for the weekend, expressed his frustration to local media.
“Right now all of us here are stranded. We don’t know whether to book a bus. We’ve seen police roadblocks there. We don’t know what is happening. We are very unsure. What do we do now from here?” he said.
The SGR team has not communicated if they’re going to issue a refund. The SGR team has not communicated if they’re going to offer accommodation for us. They’ve locked us out of the terminals. They haven’t communicated anything other than that. blocks? What about our tickets? Will we get a refund? SGR officials haven't told us anything.
Following the abrupt suspension of its 10:00 p.m. Madaraka Express passenger train from Mombasa to Nairobi on Sunday, July 6, Kenya Railways has announced a plan to transport the affected passengers.
In a public notice issued early Monday morning, the corporation advised all passengers impacted by the cancellation to report to the Mombasa Terminus by 8 a.m. today, July 7, for onward travel.
The notice confirmed that tickets dated for the original journey on July 6th will be considered valid for boarding.
The announcement provides a last minute resolution for the scores of travelers left stranded at the terminus Sunday night after the train service was cancelled just 30 minutes before its scheduled departure.
Kenya Railways stated they have "worked on a mechanism to transport all affected passengers" and reiterated that the initial suspension was due to a "technical hitch."
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Hundreds of passengers were thrown into confusion at the Mombasa SGR Terminus on Sunday night
There was speculation that the train was suspended to prevent young people from travelling to Nairobi for the Saba Saba protest.
The unexpected suspension of the popular and often fully-booked train service is likely to have a ripple effect, impacting not only those who were scheduled to travel from Mombasa to Nairobi but also passengers planning to travel to the coast from the capital.