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Kenya Railways reduces SGR freight charges by half

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SGR freighters will pay a flat fee of Sh35,000 for a 20-foot container and Sh40,000 for a 40-foot container from Mombasa to Embakasi Inland Container Depot (ICD). FILE PHOTO | NMG

The Kenya Railways has offered shippers another steep cut on its freight charges in apparent move to appease importers protesting inefficiency of its cargo delivery services.

The agency says it will haul goods at half the current tariffs for a three-month promotional period running up to April 5.  

During the period, the SGR freighters will pay a flat fee of Sh35,000 for a 20-foot container and Sh40,000 for a 40-foot container from Mombasa to Embakasi Inland Container Depot (ICD). The flat charges include cargo handling costs and returning of empty containers.

The Kenya Railways will however charge Sh25,000 to transport a 20-foot container and Sh30,000 for a 40-foot container from the ICD to Mombasa.

“Kenya Railways has introduced a three-month promotional tariff for container traffic on the SGR Freight Service. The promotional tariff applies to cargo between Port Reitz, the NRB Freight Terminal and the ICD, Embakasi,” the agency said yesterday.

The SGR trains currently charge a flat rate of Sh64,500 for a 20-foot container and Sh84,300 for 40-foot container, the low rates which it also introduced on a three-month basis.

Shippers have complaine of d inefficiency at the ICD, a facility which it initially said would cut clearance time to six hours.

The train service promises 54 double-stack flat wagons, carrying 216, 20-foot containers each and hauling a total load of 4,000 tonnes each.