Madaraka Express Passengers To Buy Tickets Via MPESA

Weeks after passengers using the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) complained the inconvenience of having to secure travelling tickets at the train station, the Kenya Railways has reached a deal with Safaricom Limited to allow passengers purchase their tickets via the MPESA platform.

According the new deal, passengers will be able to pay for their tickets using their phones and get their tickets at the train station even as plans to automate the ticketing process go on. Passengers had also complained of the middlemen selling tickets at a higher price than the recommended and the new partnership is aimed at cutting off the middlemen.

The middlemen were reportedly buying the tickets at 700 shillings and selling them at 1000 shillings, 300 shillings more than the recommended price.

According to the Managing Director at Kenya Railways, the Mpesa payment services will be available from today (Wednesday) adding that the Safaricom team was already finalizing on the finer details. “Safaricom team is on the ground finalizing training for 20 ticket issuers who will be based at our stations. We also intend to bring on board Telkom Kenya and Airtel going forward,” he said in a statement.

In the new partnership, upon the purchase of the tickets via MPESA, the passenger will receive a reference number that will enable them get tickets on arrival at the station. The coming of the SGR has made it easy for people to commute between Nairobi and Mombasa with the economy class going for 700 shillings and the first class for 3,000 shillings.

Not everybody is happy with the Standard Gauge Railway though. The bus industry has adversely been affected as the number of passengers by road keeps on dwindling with each passing day. Some pass companies are considering changing their routes to ply away from Mombasa in order to remain afloat in the transport business.