Transport

Madaraka Express carries 281,725 passengers since May launch

sgr

Passengers board the Madaraka Express train at the Nairobi terminus on June 7. FILE PHOTO | NMG

About 281,725 passengers have used the Madaraka Express between Mombasa and Nairobi since the train’s launch in May.

Two trains have been operating daily from both directions, offering a four-and-a- half hour non-stop connection between the two cities.

“We are currently running one Standard Gauge Rail (SGR) train with a capacity of 1,488 passengers. Since inauguration of the train to date, we have ferried about 281, 725 passengers,” said Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia during Kenya Ports Authority stakeholders luncheon at a Nairobi hotel.

In June, the trains had a record number of 74, 691 passengers. The train from Mombasa to Nairobi carried 36,665 passengers while the one on the opposite trip had 38,028 passengers.

In July, there were 89, 717 people riding the Madaraka Express trains; those leaving the capital city for the coast 44,916 while those heading to Nairobi from Mombasa were 44,802.

READ: New train service attracts foreign tourists

Another 83,344 people moved between the two cities in August. Those from Nairobi were 42,173 while 41,171 were travelling from Mombasa.

The 472 kilometre railway line between Mombasa and Nairobi is Kenya’s single largest infrastructure project since independence. It was constructed at a cost of Sh327 billion, co-financed through commercial and semi-concessional loans from China and input by the Government of Kenya.

The stretch between Mombasa and Nairobi marks the first part of the two-phase project.

Phase 2A will be from Nairobi to Naivasha.