Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga said the main station was traditionally in Karatina and should remain there.
Mr Kahiga said Karatina was the original station before the collapse of the 1913 railway two decades ago.
Ms Waiguru asked residents of Kirinyaga to desist from endless squabbles and instead focus on developing the county.
Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga and his Kirinyaga counterpart Anne Waiguru have clashed over the location of the main station of the Nairobi-Nanyuki Railway that is being revived.
Governors from Mt Kenya agreed to revive the railway last year and have been working on the steps to this realisation.
Speaking during the launch of road maintenance equipment in Sagana, Ms Waiguru said the station should be in Sagana town.
And on Thursday, Mr Kahiga said the main station was traditionally in Karatina and should remain there. “There is a contest between some counties because there are people who want the station to be located in their counties but we know Sagana used to be the first station” she said.
Mr Kahiga said Karatina was the original station before the collapse of the 1913 railway two decades ago.
He said there is an existing network in Karatina and the agreement is that the railway move from Nairobi to Isiolo County. “Why do we need to reinvent the wheel?” asked Mr Kahiga.
“We have the infrastructure in Karatina; we just need to modernise it,” he added. Mr Kahiga noted that there would be no problem with having two railway stations in both Sagana and Karatina. “We can have a substation in Sagana and have a main station in Karatina as it was in the past. I would go for that.”
Ms Waiguru asked residents of Kirinyaga to desist from endless squabbles and instead focus on developing the county. Embrace peace to benefit from the railway station and other developments by the national government, she said, urging them to tone down on politics whose time was now over.
“If we continue with petty squabbles we will be denied a chance to have a regional station in Sagana because when they get information that we’re fighting, business people will refuse to bring trade to us. Let us embrace peace.”
Last year, eight governors committed to reviving and rehabilitating the 240-kilometre railway from Nairobi to Isiolo at a cost of Sh25 billion.
The railway is expected to transverse eight counties that pledged to contribute Sh100 million to jumpstart the revival of the colonial passenger and cargo train service that is projected to enhance trade in the region.
From Nairobi, the railway is expected to pass through Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Nyandarua, Nanyuki to Isiolo counties.
Farmers in the region are optimistic that the revival of the railway will tame cartels and also increase market accessibility.
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