NMS postpones opening of Green Park terminus
PSV vehicles and passengers at Green Park terminus during a test run on June 18, 2021 conducted by Nairobi Metropolitan Services.
The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has postponed the opening of the Green Park bus terminus that was slated for Tuesday, May 24, 2022, until further notice.
The lieutenant general Mohamed Badi-led administration said the postponement follows a request for an extension by public service vehicles (PSV) operators.
On Tuesday last week, NMS announced that the terminus would start operating on Tuesday in phases after more than a year of delays.
The opening was to see all matatus plying Ngong and Argwings Kodhek roads end their journeys at the terminus starting May 24.
Three days later, matatus plying the Lang'ata Road route would have moved into the terminal.
“Nairobi Metropolitan Services wishes to notify the public that the operationalisation of the Green Park Bus Terminal that was set to commence on 24th May 2022 has been postponed following a request for time extension by PSV operators. The new date will be duly communicated,” said NMS in a statement.
Up to 20,000 per day
NMS had said in March that it planned to relocate all matatus from the city centre from this month, starting with those designated to move to the Green Park terminus.
The terminus, located at the former Lunar Park, can accommodate between 300 and 350 vehicles at any one time, processing about 1,000 PSVs per hour and up to 20,000 per day.
The national government entity had also announced that only three matatus per sacco would be allowed to access the terminal at any given time.
Further, touting will not be allowed in the terminus, matatus will take only 20 minutes within the stage and all staff (drivers, conductor, and route marshals) will have badges with names, photos, uniforms, sacco or company names.
Also, every route will only have two staff members to assist in operations at the terminus.
Matatus are also barred from picking or dropping passengers at non-designated places, including the entire stretch of the exit.
Once fully operational, the bus terminal is set to serve as pick-up and drop-off points for matatus from Ngong, Karen, Rongai, Kikuyu, Dagoretti, Kawangware, Kibra, Highrise, Ngumo, Langata, Nairobi West, Makadara, Kaberia, Satellite and Kiserian.
