Economy

Firm plans 16 more SGR cargo trains

sgr

To date, the ICD has capacity to handle 450,000 Twenty-Foot equivalent Units (TEUs) per year, up from its original design of 180,000 TEUs. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The standard gauge rail (SGR) freight service is set to increase the number of daily trains on the Mombasa-Nairobi route in the next five months to facilitate faster movement of cargo between the port and the inland container depot (ICD) in Embakasi.

China Communications Construction Company chairman, Lu Shan, said Friday that the trains will have increased to 28 by December.

“Currently, we are operating 12 freight trains on a daily basis,” said Mr Shan.

To date, the ICD has capacity to handle 450,000 Twenty-Foot equivalent Units (TEUs) per year, up from its original design of 180,000 TEUs. It receives four trains daily, carrying 108 containers each.

Freighters have been paying a flat fee of Sh35,000 for a 20-foot container and Sh40,000 for a 40-foot container from Mombasa to the ICD.

Kenya Railways has been charging Sh25,000 to transport a 20-foot container and Sh30,000 for a 40-foot container from ICD to Mombasa.

“The aim is to achieve an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes, fulfilling the design objectives three years and a half in advance.”