EDITORIAL: Suspending old railway upgrade makes sense

Fresh indications are that the upgrade of the old railway line from Naivasha to Malaba may not take off as expected, the latest challenge to hit the ambitious railway investment in the country.

The initial investment on the line was estimated at Sh21 billion, but it appears that the upgrade is likely to cost as much as three times this amount.

Interestingly, the idea of upgrading the line came as an afterthought following failure by the government to secure a Chinese loan to extend the standard gauge railway (SGR) from Naivasha to the Uganda border.

So far, Kenya has used about Sh480 billion on the SGR, which the country will have to repay the Chinese.

And although the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR line is disrupting truck owners and businesses in Mombasa after the government started forcing shippers to use the SGR, the Nairobi to Naivasha section is running without cargo because the dry port and the linkage to the old line to Malaba are yet to be done.

What the above says is that the Transport ministry could have done a much better job at planning the railway infrastructure.

It began with ignoring World Bank recommendations that we upgrade the old line from Mombasa to Malaba instead of building a new one.

Another problem arose because Uganda and Rwanda were yet to commit to linking up with the SGR, which should have been enough to inform Kenya to suspend the extension to Naivasha that cost a princely Sh150 billion.

In fact, that money could have easily upgraded the old line from Nairobi to Malaba and linked it up with the SGR dry cargo port in Nairobi.

In our opinion, it is time Kenya’s policy makers and planners stopped to take stock and indeed consider if the upgrade of the old line is important and what really should be prioritised.

It might make more sense to wait and complete the SGR from Naivasha to Malaba instead of making overlapping and wasteful investments.