Kenya Railways says second-hand trains bought from Spain are operational

Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) has said that all the 11 second-hand locomotives that it acquired from a Spanish firm three years ago are operational.

KRC, in a statement responding to a report published in the Sunday Nation’s Weekly Review magazine, says that the units are operational but some of the Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) have been occasionally disconnected for routine maintenance. 

The Weekly Review had on Sunday reported that ten of the 11 units have not been operational, mainly due to lack of spare parts. The report was based on multiple interviews with Kenya Railways staff.

KRC bought the DMUs from Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca (SFM) in 2021 in a deal worth $15 million (Sh1.93 billion at current exchange rates).

“In line with our standard operating procedures, we are bound to recall and detach locomotives and or coaches including the DMUs for routine maintenance, which takes place at the Railway workshops,” KRC said.

KRC added that it was forced to rededicate the DMUs to serve the Embakasi route due to high demand on the route compared to others.

The DMUs had initially been targeted to operate along the Nairobi-Syokimau and Embakasi routes.

Acquisition of the diesel-powered passengers was part of the ambitious revamp of the Nairobi Railway transport where KRC targeted to increase capacity on commuter services in the capital from 13,000 to 132,000 passengers a day by 2022.

But the deal was marred by concerns of the aging fleet, some as old as 25 years, and lack of spare parts.

Each of the DMUs cost between Sh71 and Sh137 million.

A section of KRC engineers had at the time questioned the rationale behind the selection of the units DAR and GPO Group — hired to review the project — had said some of the units were in deplorable state and would require extensive refurbishment to make them operational.

Kenya also went against recommendations by the World Bank to first upgrade the existing rail network, construct new stations and buy higher capacity trains.

The World Bank also wanted Kenya to first set up an operational Commuter Rail Unit before shipping in the trains.

The Spanish DMUs were also said to be slower, adding to the unanswered questions that KRC and the Transport ministry avoided answering as the procurement process was rushed.

The KRC statement further discloses that it is set to acquire a new fleet of high-capacity diesel electric multiple units to further boost Nairobi’s rail transport system.

The undisclosed number of Diesel Electric Multiple Units (DEMUs) will have a capacity of 1,200 passengers, according to KRC.
The Standard Gauge Railway, popular as Madaraka Express- Kenya's most modern train service and most expensive project-is diesel powered.

Tanzania recently bought trains that are powered by either diesel or electric power, moving ahead of Kenya in modernisation of the railway system.

Ethiopia is the only country in the region with electric trains, with the country banking on its vast hydro power to run the trains without disrupting electricity supply and reliability.