Talks to extend standard gauge railway to Naivasha begin

Kenya has started talks with the Chinese contractor building the new Mombasa-Nairobi railway to extend the line to Naivasha from 2017.

The extension of 120 kilometres will link special industrial zones that would be established at Naivasha to Nairobi and Mombasa, according to a statement from State House.

Naivasha is home to the Olkaria geothermal power plants. To attract investors to set up industrial complexes at the specially designated zones near Olkaria, the government will offer them subsidised power tariffs. 

Firms will also have power connected directly from Olkaria to ensure uninterrupted supplies, and in some cases, companies —such as those dealing in apparel manufacturing — will be allowed access to steam.

The railway plans were revealed Tuesday at a meeting between President Uhuru Kenyatta, some members of his Cabinet and officials of China Roads and Bridge Corporation at Voi.

“We must do everything in our power to ensure that the standard gauge railway is delivered on time and on budget,” said President Kenyatta.

“There must be no laxity in terms of delivering what is one of our most transformational projects.”

Some of the issues that the meeting agreed should be resolved before the next meeting in August include moving of power lines from the route of the railway line.

Mr Kenyatta toured the construction of the Voi River Super Bridge, which cuts through the Tsavo National Park’s elephant corridor, and has a length of two kilometres and an elevation of 18 feet.

The bridge will ensure the construction of the railway does not interfere with the migration of elephants.

The construction of bridges and culverts in most of parts of the Mombasa-Nairobi route is now complete and laying of tracks is scheduled to start in October.

Kenya has previously said the new 471km railway will cut freight costs to 8 US cents a metric tonne (1.1 tonnes) per kilometre from 20 cents now.