Kenya Railways suspends city commuter rail service for 10 days
President Uhuru Kenyatta flags off Kenya Railways Diesel Multiple Units (DMU) at the Nairobi Central Railway Station on November 10, 2020.
Nairobi rail commuters will from tomorrow not access service to various destinations in the city for 10 days.
This is after Kenya Railways suspended the operation of the Nairobi Commuter rail service to Ruiru, Embakasi, Kikuyu and Syokimau between December 24, 2020 and January 3, 2021.
However, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) express service and the Madaraka Express passenger service, and the commuter link to and from the SGR terminus will remain operational during the festive season.
The same will apply for Nairobi to Nanyuki Rail service which has been enhanced to accommodate increased demand during the festive season.
“We wish to notify our commuters that the Nairobi Commuter Rail Services to Ruiru, Embakasi, Kikuyu and Syokimau will be suspended from December 24, 2020 till January 3, 2021,” said the notice by Kenya Railways.
Reduced fares
Last week, Kenya Railways announced it had slashed fares by half for commuters using rail service between Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the city centre for the next three months.
The Nairobi commuter rail service was launched early last month by President Uhuru Kenyatta. Eleven refurbished Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) were launched on different routes across the capital city. Rail passengers pay Sh100 for every trip.
The routes include Embakasi Village, Pipeline, Donholm Railway Stations, Syokimau and Kikuyu, which were upgraded last month.
The upgraded routes will later be joined by seven new stations including Umoja, Kitengela, Thika, Kibera, Mbagathi Way, Kenyatta and Strathmore universities and Thogoto.
The new stations, according to Kenya Railways, will also operate on the “park and ride” model currently being used at the Syokimau, Imara Daima and Makadara stations.
Currently, there are commuter train services on Nairobi – Imara Daima-Syokimau route, Nairobi – Githurai – Mwiki – Kahawa – Ruiru route, Nairobi-Embakasi route, and Nairobi – Kibera – Kikuyu route.
The project, which is part of the Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Master Plan, is aimed at modernising and expanding underutilised railway transport to reduce congestion on city roads by reducing over-reliance on road transport.
