Six More Commuter Trains To Hit Nairobi CBD This Month

By Clinton Ochieng

Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) expects additional commuter trains referred to as diesel multiple units (DMUs), to enable it to increase the frequency of trains using the different routes across the city.

The Nairobi Commuter Rail service is set for a boost with the planned addition of the extra trains by the end of this month.

The corporation had acquired 11 DMUs from Majorca State in Spain at a cost of 1.15 billion Shillings and received an initial five, which started operations last November.

The remaining units are expected to be delivered before April. The units, while faster and more efficient than the outdated locomotives, are not new but refurbished.

They were previously used by the regional government of Majorca which has started greening its public transport through the electrification of buses and trains.

The city’s commuter rail service is part of the larger plan to improve connectivity within the Nairobi urban areas through modernizing and expanding the underutilized railway transport infrastructure facilities. The Ministry of Transport has said in the past that the service is used by upwards of 13,000 commuters daily, making it an essential service for the city.

The Transport ministry is also moving to revive the stuck bus rapid transit (BRT) system. Both the rail and the BRT could ease congestion in the city, with the Nairobi Metropolitan Authority putting the losses at 100 billion Shillings annually.

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