By Moses Cheruiyot
In Summary:
- The Inter County service from Nairobi to Mombasa via Athi River, Emali, Kibwezi, Mtito Andei, Voi, Miasenyi, Mariakani will be departing Nairobi at 0800hrs every morning and is expected to arrive in Mombasa by 1300hrs.
- The Nairobi bound one will be leaving the Mombasa station at 0715hrs to arrive in Nairobi at 1315hrs after making seven stops along the 472 KM line.
- The popular express service which takes slightly below five hours to and from Mombasa will be departing Nairobi at 1430 hours headed to Mombasa while the Mombasa one will be leaving the coastal city at 1530 hours
- The Corporation has also announced that the testing phase for commercial cargo is set to commence and the full commercial operations on the freight service will commence in 2018.
Kenya Railways has announced changes on the schedule of Madaraka Express Passenger Service. According to the revised timetable published by the rail transporter, the arrival and departure timings for both the express and inter-county train will be affected.
The changes took effect on 1st of December, the timing of the Inter County service from Nairobi to Mombasa via Athi River, Emali, Kibwezi, Mtito Andei, Voi, Miasenyi, Mariakani will be departing Nairobi at 0800hrs every morning and is expected to arrive in Mombasa by 1300hrs. The Nairobi bound one will be leaving the Mombasa station at 0715hrs to arrive in Nairobi at 1315hrs after making seven stops along the 472 KM line.
Commenting on the changes, Kenya Railways Managing Director, Atanas Maina said that the revised timetable is expected to benefit the thousands of commuters who use the now popular service.
“Since inception of the Madaraka Express, we have made notable changes mostly informed by our stakeholders’ feedback in an effort to provide a smooth service to our customers. Therefore, this timetable revision is a further improvement towards an efficient service. As the festive season checks in, we expect even more passengers to board the ultra-modern trains as they transverse the country,” Mr. Maina said.
The popular express service which takes slightly below five hours to and from Mombasa will be departing Nairobi at 1430 hours headed to Mombasa while the Mombasa one will be leaving the coastal city at 1530 hours. Both trains will be operating at average speeds of up to 120 KM per hour.
The Madaraka Express Passenger service has been in operation for five months following a colorful commissioning ceremony by H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta. To date the service has transported approximately 337,000 passengers and the numbers are growing by the day.
The Corporation has also been engaged by the Kenyan Government to transport relief food from the Port of Mombasa to the ICD. This has served as the testing phase for the Freight service and to date approximately 120,000 tonnes of cereals have been transported. The Corporation has also announced that the testing phase for commercial cargo is set to commence and the full commercial operations on the freight service will commence in 2018. The freight service is expected to lower the cost of cargo transport by up to 35% between the port of Mombasa and the Nairobi Inland Container Deport. It is expected that this cost saving will be passed on to consumers with the cost of transport and logistics thought to account for up to 40% of the cost of goods and services