Kenya’s Nairobi-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway is now completed and set to start operations tomorrow.
The 20 kilometers railway is scheduled to be opened on Wednesday for passenger services with the cargo business set for a later launch. This was occasioned by delays in modernising the old line to Uganda and construction of a dry port in Naivasha.
It is not yet clear if President Uhuru Kenyatta will be present to officially launch the phase 2A of the Standard Gauge Railway.
“I can’t confirm that now,” State House spokesperson Kanze Dena said in a phone interview with Business Daily.
By the time of publishing this article, State House was still mum about President Kenyatta schedule for Wednesday.
However, according to Mbogo Mathioya, Naivasha sub-county commissioner, the line will be opened by President Kenyatta.
“The SGR extension to Naivasha is now complete and on Wednesday the Head of State will officially launch it by opening all the stations along the route.” Vanguard reported.
“The president will also use the occasion to launch the Internal Container Depot which will be located around the 1,000 acres gazetted for the industrial park,” said Mathioya.
China Communications and Construction Company — which built the Nairobi-Naivasha line — has for the past two months been doing test runs on the new line ahead of tomorrow’s launch.
The new railway has been designed with 12 railway stations, including five in Kajiado County, one in Kiambu, two in Nakuru and three in Narok County.
SGR Phase 2A (Nairobi-Naivasha) runs across parts of Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu, Nakuru and Narok counties. The 120km line cost Sh150 billion ($1.5 billion) to build.
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