China Road ships in 10 locomotives for laying SGR track

What you need to know:

The 472km SGR from Mombasa to Nairobi is being built at a cost of Sh427 billion and is expected to ease the cost of freight and passenger travel between the two cities.

China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) is set to ship in 10 locomotives next month to be used in laying the track of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

This is two months before the actual laying of the rail starts in November as the Chinese contractor races to beat the June 2017 deadline set by the government.

“In September, next month, our locomotives for construction will be arriving at the Mombasa Port,” said Julius Li, CRBC Kenya communications manager.

“So far, the earthworks for the SGR project have been completed by over 50 per cent. The bridges are at about 48 per cent,” Mr Li said. “By the middle of next year, the earthworks for the entire project will be fully competed.”

The 472km SGR from Mombasa to Nairobi is being built at a cost of Sh427 billion and is expected to ease the cost of freight and passenger travel between the two cities.

Kenya has previously said the new railway will cut freight costs to 8 US cents a metric tonne (1.1 tonnes) per kilometre from 20 cents now.

It is expected the line will increase the speed of freight trains from a maximum 40 kilometres per hour to 80 kilometres per hour. Passenger trains will be moving at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour, cutting down travel time considerably.

At least 50 locomotives are expected to be imported to run on the line with eight being passenger trains while the rest will be for cargo.

“One train will carry 1,000 people which means that they can carry 4,000 people in one direction and 4,000 in the other,” said Kenya Railways project manager for the SGR Maxwell Mengich in a previous interview.

Compensation problems

Mr Li said that the designs for the railway stations are complete and construction is set to start end of August.

The Mombasa station will have a floor area of 10,000 square metres while Nairobi will have 15,000 square metres. Both will have a final capacity of over one million passengers annually.

Other intermediate stations include Mariakani, Voi, Mtito Andei, Kibwezi and Athi River.

So far, about 25,000 Kenyans have been employed in the project and are working alongside 2,000 Chinese nationals. The SGR has been dogged by several problems especially on compensation for those displaced by the project at the Coast.