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The Nairobi Commuter Rail Service (NCRS) will move up to 3 million passengers per month once rehabilitation of the 10 stations is complete, Kenya Railways (KR) managing director Philip Mainga has said.

Currently, the Nairobi Central Station, which is the focal point of the renovation, moves between 30,000 and 40,000 passengers daily, a figure KR says will surge to 150,000.

Rehabilitation

“We expect that every one hour, we will be having about 40,000 people exiting through this station. Ultimately we are trusting that we will be moving 3 million passengers per month,” said Mainga.

The rehabilitation and modernisation of the NCRS is part of the government’s efforts to decongest Nairobi county of incessant traffic snarl-ups.

Nairobi Central Station will serve as the nerve centre of operations, connecting ten stations in satellite towns, including newly built stations in Donholm and Pipeline.

Kenya Railway currently operates commuter train services on Nairobi – Imara Daima-Syokimau route, Nairobi – Githurai – Mwiki – Kahawa – Ruiru route, Nairobi-Embakasi route, and Nairobi – Kibera – Kikuyu route.

Charles Hinga, Principal Secretary (PS), state department for housing and urban development said under phase one of the rail masterplan, a total of 152 kilometres has been rehabilitated.

The government has secured 11 two car diesel multiple units (DMUs) and five spare vehicles for Sh1.15 billion from Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca to operate commuter services in Nairobi, in what Hinga says will significantly improve turnaround time for the services.

A DMU requires no separate locomotives, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages, a factor the PS said will eliminate the need for change over of the head, which is costly and time consuming.