Kenya Railways has on Wednesday, June 8 announced that from Friday, June 10, they will introduce a train set to travel between Nairobi and Kisumu from 6:30pm to 6:30am.
The train will depart Nairobi at 6:30pm and arrive in Kisumu at 6:30am
Passengers disembark from the train that arrived from Nairobi at the Kisumu railway station, on December 17, 2021. - Kenya railways resumed commuter services between Nairobi and Kisumu after it being non-operational for more than 10 years. (Photo by BRIAN ONGORO/AFP via Getty Images)
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Taking to their social media platforms, Kenya Railways announced the schedule of the train dubbed 'The Kisumu Safari train.' The train will depart Nairobi every Friday then return on Sundays.
"The Kisumu Safari train will make the trips every Friday leaving the Nairobi Central Station at 1830 hrs and arrive in Kisumu at 0630 hrs. The return trip will be every Sunday with the train departing the New Kisumu Station at 1830 hrs and arrive in Nairobi at 0635 hrs," read their post on Twitter.
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The trip covering the 216km meter gauge railway will see commuters pay Sh600 from Nairobi to Kisumu, Sh300 between Nairobi and Nakuru and Sh400 from Nakuru to Kisumu, while those travelling in first class will part with Sh2,000.
Commuters who choose to pay the Sh2,000 fee will have amenities such as access to Wi-Fi, charging ports, refreshments and spacious closets for luggage storage.
“Kenya Railways is ready to increase its trips. We have acquired new locomotives and refurbished coaches in case there is an increase in the number of passengers requiring the service,” said KRC spokesperson Anne Maina.
The introduction of the overnight train comes only weeks after the release of the 2022 Economic Survey which indicated the number of passengers traveling using the Madaraka Express doubled from 1.8 million in 2020 to 4.4 million in 2021
