Movement of containers on the standard gauge railway (SGR) from the Port of Mombasa has increased by nearly half since the lowering of charges.
The lower freight charges have prompted the introduction of double stack trains that have seen the number of containers rise from 108 to 152 on a single move on each train, reflecting a growth of 40.7 percent
Kenya Railways has reduced freight charges from $600 to $510 for a 20-foot container and from $850 to $725 for 40-foot type from Mombasa to Naivasha effective this month.
Movement of containers on the standard gauge railway (SGR) from the Port of Mombasa has increased by nearly half since the lowering of charges.
The lower freight charges have prompted the introduction of double stack trains that have seen the number of containers rise from 108 to 152 on a single move on each train, reflecting a growth of 40.7 percent
Kenya Railways has reduced freight charges from $600 to $510 for a 20-foot container and from $850 to $725 for 40-foot type from Mombasa to Naivasha effective this month.
Africa Star Railway Operation Company (Afristar), which operates the SGR said it has moved 186 trains delivering 18,972 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) to the Nairobi container depot.
“The recently introduced two double deck trains, each conveying 152 TEUs per move, has continued to up the game on containerised cargo, enabling clearance on the old backlogs and maintaining desired loading of units ex hook, directly from discharging vessels”, said Kenya Railways managing director Philip Mainga.
On conventional cargo, Afristar has introduced loading of bulk cargo on special open type wagons. Additional bulk wagons above conventional cargo requirements are still being converted to add to more fleet on containerised loading.