Madaraka Express almost at full capacity as festivities set in

The Madaraka Express trains are recording almost full capacity as the economy gradually reverts to normalcy and hotels start receiving bookings for the festive season.

Kenya Railways said the trains have been recording about 94 percent occupancy in the last two months to November.

“The Madaraka Express passenger service has seen a steady rise in passenger numbers from July 13. Shortly after resumption, the maximum seat occupancy was 50 percent,” said Anne Maina senior corporate affairs officer.

“The trains are filled to capacity just as like always. The seat occupancy is about 94 percent now.”

The standard gauge railway (SGR) was hit by tough times following travel restrictions that saw the bookings drop to zero in May and June. However, the trains have been recording growth in the number of passengers since the restrictions were eased.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data show the number of passengers in SGR increased from 19,502 in July to 43,235 in September. The revenues also doubled, from Sh22.83 million to Sh51.84 million in the three months.

The bookings on both the business and economy couches are, however, yet to match revenues and number attained last year.

In 2019, there were 135,582 passengers who brought in Sh148.15 million in July.

In April, Kenya Railways suspended all passenger trains from Mombasa and Nairobi, which saw the State’s corporation refund cash for passenger bookings that had been made.

The move was in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive banning movement in and out of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties to contain spread of coronavirus. As a result, two Madaraka Express trains that operated daily between Nairobi and Mombasa were immediately withdrawn.

In July, however, SGR resumed operations following the lifting of the cessation of movement.

From then on, the passenger numbers have been rising steadily. As the festivities approach, the demand has sharply gone up compelling the trains to adopt full seating capacity.

“As the country adapts to the new normal, full seat occupancy was allowed to cater to the rising number of passengers. It's noteworthy that stringent Covid-19 prevention measures are being adhered to at the stations and in the train,” Ms Maina said.

Reschedule fee

Kenya Railways revised some procedures in line with the pandemic measures, including reducing the pre-booking window to five days before the date of travel from the previous 60 days.

The rescheduling fee was waived to enable customers change their travel date at no cost. The train was also operating at 50 percent capacity to ensure social distance.

It also fully resumed services with an additional train to serve Nairobi and Mombasa County in October, both with inter-county stopovers.

The Madaraka Express Commuter Service that shuttles between Nairobi Terminus and Suswa station with stoppages at Ongata Rongai, Ngong and Maai Mahiu stations has also resumed operations.

The growing demand is expected to revive the SGR revenues that had taken a major hit from the disruptions. In the 12 months to December 2019, 1,599,420 passengers booked the train, bringing in Sh1.72 billion. This was an increase from 1,665,627 passengers in 2018 and Sh1.61 billion in revenues.

In the nine months to September this year, only 422,471 passengers have travelled earning Sh470.38 million in revenues.

Overall, transport and storage sector is estimated to have contracted by 11.6 percent in the second quarter of 2020 compared to 7.6 percent growth in the corresponding quarter of 2019, according to data by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

Over the period, the standard gauge and metre gauge railway freight services remained uninterrupted.

The Nairobi Commuter Rail service to Ruiru, Embakasi, Syokimau and Kikuyu stations also continued to operate normally.

“In the review period, restriction of movements resulted to significant decline in travel activities thereby impacting negatively the sector’s performance…Freight movement through SGR rose by 3.9 percent to stand at 1,053 thousand metric tonnes,” the report stated.

“The number of passengers by SGR declined to 6,363 (recorded only in April) in the review period from 408,931 recorded in the second quarter of 2019.”

The drop in bookings of the train especially from Nairobi to Mombasa also reflected the extent of the damage on the tourism sector, especially at the coastal region, and domestic tourism which also depends on the Madaraka passenger trains to bring in visitors and revellers.

This was coupled by closure of the facilities, ban on domestic and international flights and cancellation of hotel bookings by visitors.

This saw the sector take the biggest hit in terms of job losses and income.

Tourism accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s GDP and 9 percent of the total employment. It is a leading foreign exchange earner, generating Sh163.6 billion in earnings in 2019.

The sector has however started to pick up following the easing of containment measures taken by the government and global source markets including shutdown of international and local borders in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus.

A survey of hotels by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) conducted between November 10 and 12, showed steady recovery from the closures and scaling down of operations in April and May following the onset of the pandemic.

In the Monetary Policy Committee, CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said 96 percent of the respondent hotels are now open, compared to 89 percent in September, with increased re-engagement of employees.

However, only an average bed occupancy of 23 percent was reported.