Kenya Railways to Commence Night Travel on The Kisumu Route

The Kenya Railways will now ferry passengers using the Nairobi-Kisumu route at night effective Friday, June 10, owing to reduced customer preference for the day travel which has attracted some changes in the Kisumu route.

‘’In a move which is response to customer requests, the Kisumu night train will now make stops at stations along the route, including Kikuyu, Naivasha, Nakuru, Njoro, Elburgon, Turi, Molo, Mau Summit, Londiani, Kedowa, Kipkelion, Tunnel, Fort Ternan, Koru, Muhoroni, Chemelil, Kibigori, Miwani, and Kibos,’’ KR said in a statement.

The move is expected to increase the number of passengers utilizing the service. The train which will be ferrying passengers on Fridays and Sundays will be departing from either side at 6.30 pm and arriving at the destinations at 6.30 am.  Passengers riding in the first-class cabins will pay 2, 000 shillings and 600 shillings for those riding in the economy class coaches.

Kenya Railways reintroduced the Nairobi-Kisumu service on December 17 last year after a very long hiatus. Since then, the demand for the Kisumu safari train has proved to be the real deal with many passengers opting for this mode of travel.

KRC had earlier announced that it would increase the trips to serve more passengers visiting the two cities. The growing demand for services on the route pushed the corporation to add seven more trains to the Nairobi-Kisumu route in a bid to meet the demand. By April this year, the commuter train had transported over 6,000 passengers, according to statistics from KRC.

The corporation had stopped ferrying customers to the western region due to the unstable condition of the rail. The old meter-gauge line, which had created huge passenger demand upon its introduction will be used to deliver cargoes to the neighboring countries through the Kisumu port.