Deal sealed to have standard gauge railway cut through Nairobi park

What you need to know:

Kenya Railways has signed an agreement with Kenya Wildlife Service and the National Land Commission allowing it to realign the path of the line.
The idea to shift the railway’s route was mooted after it was established that there is no money to compensate properties affected by the earlier route.

Kenya Railways has received the green light to have the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) run through the Nairobi National Park, despite opposition from conservationists.

The corporation on Friday signed an agreement with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the National Land Commission (NLC) allowing it to realign the path of the line into the park.

This is to avoid a huge compensation bill for industries and residential estates in Mlolongo and Athi River that were in SGR’s original path.

A NLC official told the Business Daily that the agreement had been reached after Kenya Railways agreed to increase the number of bridges under which animals can move from one to three.

The idea to shift the railway’s route which will affect 216 acres of park land was mooted by the NLC after it was established that there is no money to compensate high-value properties affected by the earlier route.

But Friends of Nairobi National Park (Fonnap), a conservation group has been opposed to the project, says it will cut off acres of prime rhino habitat.

4,300 people have signed an online petition to President Uhuru Kenyatta to stop the realignment, which will cover an 11.6km stretch.

In the petition Fonnap has urged the President to “halt the current plans to realign the railway and instead revive the previous plans for the Standard Gauge Railway alignment which follows the northern boundary of the park and is adjacent to the existing railway”.

Kenya Railways had said that the original route would require taking over multiple acres of residential and industrial land, which will cost it huge sums in compensation payments.

These include parcels owned by Bamburi Cement, Devki Steel Mills, Athi River Steel Plant, Kapa Oil Refineries, Orbit Chemicals, Muthama Heights Estate, Kenya Meat Commission, ISL Kenya and Murumbi African Heritage House, among others.