The SGR departure time has been pushed to 10 pm from the current 9 pm. The train will now be operating between 10 pm and 3:35 am according to the new schedule in an effort by Kenya Railways to attract more passengers to and from Mombasa.
The midnight train has also eliminated the intercounty operations. This means that it will only have passengers who will be doing express without alighting on the way. This will cut out those not traveling to the Mombasa terminal as their final destination.
According to Kenya Railways, the new schedule will ensure that passengers do not get constrained by the curfew hours. Kenya Railways says most passengers alighted early but forced to wait for curfew hours to elapse because of lack of PSVs.
The Ministry of Transport exempted SGR users from the curfew in an effort to increase the uptake of passengers using SGR. Traveling at night is not allowed for PSVs. Those caught within curfew hours are only expected to show the SGR ticket.
Those traveling first-class are required to pay at least 3,000 shillings while those using economy pay 1,000 shillings. SGR is affordable traveling to Mombasa than the use of the bus.
Currently, Kenyans are still paying a Chinese bank billions of cash taken as loan to construct the railway. At the moment, the train is not making enough to settle its own debt. It has been making losses in billions of shillings.
“Changing departure time is a good idea. Sometimes we could alight early and no PSVs to take us to our final destinations due to the curfew,” says Halima Abdi who plies between Mombasa and Nairobi for business weekly.
President Uhuru Kenyatta extended the curfew to March 2021 though Kenyans said it was not meant to contain Covid-19 but criminal activities.
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