So far, the country has received 25 freight locomotives out of the 43 on order. [Photo/the-star.co.ke]

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Kenya Railways on Monday received additional 17 freight locomotives, six shunting locomotives, 50 flat wagons for containers and four unit cranes for use in the SGR operations.

The consignment was offloaded under the supervision of the Principal Secretary, Transport, Prof. Paul. M. Maringa, Kenya Railways engineers, China Road and Bridge Corporation, the EPC contractor for Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway project, and the project supervisor, TSDI-APEC-EDON Consortium (TAEC).

The locomotives will provide a vital service to the Nation and help address the growing congestion on the roads in the country, with operations on the line expected to stimulate economic activity especially in the areas traversed by the Standard Gauge Railway line.

The 25 tonne axle flat wagons on the other hand, can carry a payload of 70 tonnes and are designed to run at 120 km/h.

So far, the country has received 25 freight locomotives out of the 43 on order; the full order of five (5) passenger and eight (8) shunting locomotives; the full order of 40 Passenger coaches, as well as 763 Wagons out of the 1,620 on order.

Speaking on site at the Mombasa Port during the offloading of the locomotives and wagons, the Transport Principal Secretary Prof. Paul M. Maringa said that the government was keen on optimizing the SGR for freight transport; destined locally and to the region – Uganda, Rwanda Burundi, South Sudan and DRC.

“The SGR is the backbone of Kenya’s multi modal infrastructure development and thus it will play a key role is spurring economic growth. It is expected that freight uptake via SGR will considerably increase rail transport capacity from the port once the operations commence in December 2017, and in accordance with the commitment made in the Mombasa Port Community Charter, signed in June 2014,” he explained.

Operation of freight services is scheduled to begin once the expansion and modernisation of the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD) is completed and handling equipment provided and installed.