Transport Principal Secretary Mr. Mohamed Daghar, EBS flagged off 430 wagons designed to facilitate freight operation on the railway network on March 4, 2024. The batch consisted of 230 wagons designed to facilitate operations on the Standard Gauge Railway line and 200 wagons designed for operations on the Meter Gauge Railway line.

Speaking at the flagging off ceremony, Mr. Mohamed Daghar said that the wagons will boost evacuation of cargo from the Port, boost Kenya Railways’ share of cargo throughput at the Port of Mombasa and help decongest the roads. He said that Kenya Railways has in the recent past undertaken initiatives aimed at increasing the railway transport footprint in the country such as construction of sidings to client’s business premises, revitalization of the Meter Gauge Railway network and establishment of cargo handling facility at Malaba.

“Given that Kenya’s economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the region, we require to make strategic investments in the transport and logistics sector in order to ensure that movement of cargo is executed efficiently and effectively. The government has set out to mobilize adequate resources to in order to ensure that we have adequate resources to meet the ever-growing demand. The wagons we have flagged off today will add a lot of value to the transport and logistics scene by increasing mobility, reducing congestion at the Port and on roads and removing major inefficiencies in movement cargo,” he said.

All the wagons have a capacity of 70 tons or higher, enabling movement of heavy containerized cargo which in turn reduces damage to the roads. They have been inspected and subjected to comprehensive static and dynamic tests in order to ensure they are in good working condition. This batch of wagons has been duly inspected by the Railway Engineers and certified for movement.

Speaking at the same function, the Kenya Railways Managing Director Mr. Philip Mainga said that Kenya Railways freight division has engaged several clients on long term freight agreements and has put in place plans to ensure that it offers a
reliable, safe and efficient service.

“In total, we are procuring 500 wagons which entails 300 wagons designed for operations on the Standard Gauge Railway line and 200 wagons designed for operations on the Meter Gauge Railway line. The wagons are of various specifications to ensure that the cargo moved from the Port of Mombasa is able to move all the way to Kampala through the SGR/MGR transshipment facility at Naivasha” he said. “The sustained investment is guided by the growing demand which we need to meet given that our client portfolio is growing by the day,” he added.