Bus Operators Happy With SGR New Fares to be Effected in April

Bus operators have welcomed the move by the Standard Gauge Railway to increase fare from Nairobi to Mombasa and vice versa.

Early this month, SGR announced that it would be revising its fare from the current 700 shillings to 1200 from the month of April.

Since its launch, SGR has transported more than 100,000 passengers who took advantage of the fairly low fare.

The move to lower the fare was seen as an intention to kill the bus industry which was charging between 1200 shillings and 2000 per trip.

A number of public service vehicle owners scaled down their operations as well as laying off some of their staff in order to remain afloat.

According to the management at the SGR, the current fare of 700 shillings on the economy class and 3,000 for the first class is not enough to sustain the maintenance of the trains as well as service the loan.

The increase in fare will see a reduction in the number of SGR users most of who was using it because of its affordability.

The initial fare for the SGR has been set at 900 shillings for the economy class but the amount was revised down to 700 shillings in order to attract more passengers.

The SGR also launched the cargo transporting train from Mombasa to an inland port in Nairobi although analysts say the cargo train is operating below its capacity as many traders keep off using it due to its inconveniences in accessing Nairobi.