KRC Acquires 6 More Trains to Offer Hourly Rides in Nairobi

Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) has received six more trains that arrived in the country last week.

KRC chairman Omudho Awitta stated that the new trains will enable the state corporation to offer Nairobians hourly rides, relieving the city of the persistent traffic menace.

The trains were part of the Ksh1.1 billion second batch of locomotives ordered from Spain.

The first batch, which comprised five trains operates the Syokimau-Nairobi and Embakasi-Nairobi routes. The Syokimau train operates five times a day, while the Embakasi train operates three times a day.

“The six batch of DMU’s have arrived in the country from Spain. We will now have trains running every hour across the Nairobi metropolitan area,” Awitta told Business Daily on May 25, 2021.

He said that the trains will compliment services along the Nairobi-Embakasi, Nairobi-Ruiru, Nairobi-Kikuyu, Nairobi-Syokimau, and Nairobi-Athi River routes.

KRC's acquisition of the Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) is part of its grand plan to increase commuter capacity from 13,000 to 132,000 passengers a day by 2022.

The DMUs can carry up to 128 seated and 130 standing passengers. Therefore, if coupled up, the trains carry up to 774 passengers.

The trains were acquired from Mallorca, Spain after the island transitioned to electric trains.

Awitta stated that KRC is targeting a huge chunk of the 1.5 million passengers that commute in Nairobi on a daily basis.