President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga are expected to be part of the maiden Mombasa to Kisumu train.
The two leaders are expected to take the trip in April. The trip has been confirmed by Peter Odoyo, the chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Defence.
Odoyo notes that the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is almost through with the refurbishment of the 216-kilometer Nakuru-Kisumu meter-gauge railway line.
“Over the next 10 days, we will be checking and repairing bridges, and hopefully, by April, Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Odinga will officially open the Nakuru-Kisumu railway line,” he disclosed during an inspection tour of the project.
The rehabilitation carried out by KDF will see the project handed over to the Kenya Railway Corporation in 10 days.
The line has 17 stations, but the railway operations on the branch ceased upon granting of the concessionaire (RVR) in 2008.
According to Mwalimu Disi, the operations manager at Kenya Railways Corporation, once KDF completes the line, KRC will handle the final parts of the vandalized areas.
“At the beginning of April, we shall have finished the repairs so that we carry out trials on the railway line to give way for full operations to resume, including the Kisumu Port,” said Disi.
During the launch of the Madaraka Express, President Uhuru was among dignitaries who took the maiden trip from Mombasa to Nairobi.
The new line is expected to open up the western economic bloc in line with the completion of the Kisumu port.
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