Kenya's Transport Ministry settles on new SGR train fare after initial plans to hike it by 70%

david nganga

March 20, 2018 6:33 PM

Kenya Railways had sought to hike the fare from Ksh700 to Ksh1,200 as from April 1st

Kenyans will from April 1st pay Ksh1,000 to use the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) passenger service, up from the promotional Sh700.

The new charges come barely a month after Kenya Railways said it had plans to hike the economy class one-way fare to Ksh1,200.

The Ministry of Transport however made an administrative decision to ensure passengers continue using the service.

Passengers using first-class services on the train will continue paying Ksh3,000 in the new fare regime.

Kenya Railways had earlier stated that the promotional fare was not enough to meet the operational cost in the short term hence the hike.

Since its launch in June 2016, the Madaraka Express train service has been a hit with passengers.

President Uhuru Kenyatta had fixed the fare at Sh700 for economy class ticket and Sh3,000 on first class ticket for passengers travelling from Nairobi to Mombasa.

This was a reduction from the initial Sh900 which had been announced earlier by Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia.

The 472 km SGR railway line between Mombasa and Nairobi was constructed at a cost of Sh327 billion co-financed through commercial and semi-concessional loans from China and the Kenyan government.

david nganga