Barely a month after President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Standard Gauge Railway project, the Kenya Railways (KR) is now investigating claims that the Madaraka Express staff are colluding with cartels to buy off tickets before travel and sell them at a profit on the material date.

According to the Nairobi News, KR Managing Director Atanas Maina said the firm had received reports of scandal and have launched investigations over the matter.

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“We are investigating the matter to establish exactly who are involved in the scam. We are advising the public not to buy the hiked tickets because that will only fuel the already existing problem,” Maina said.

President Kenyatta launched the Chinese-built Sh 327 billion on June 1 and was among the first passengers on board the Madaraka Express' maiden trip to Nairobi from Mombasa.

The trains run daily passenger trips between Nairobi and Mombasa.

The passenger train services between the two cities cost Sh700 for economy class and Sh3,000 for first class.

It took the Government two and half years to accomplish the task of constructing 472 kilometers of the SGR from the port city of Mombasa to the capital city of Nairobi.

The train tickets are officially supposed to be available to the public three days before the date of travel.

The cartels have taken advantage of the fact that the tickets are sold with no passenger names and one is not required to produce any identification on purchase.