It has been a year since Kenya launched its Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) services dubbed the Madaraka Express. The passenger service seems to have struck a good chord but on the other hand, Cargo service, which was to be the key mandate of the SGR still struggles to get its balance. 

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The project used up Ksh.330 billion and was the country’s most expensive infrastructure.  During the one year period, 1,144  trips have been made on the SGR. This equals transporting close to 1.3 million customers between Nairobi and Mombasa at a cost of 700 and 3000 shillings for the economy and first class respectively. 

The government has in the process raked in an estimated Ksh.1 billion in revenues. Substation commissioned to stabilize Nairobi power. With this improved tide and with economy class fares having increased to Ksh.1,000 Kenya Railways is already envisioning additional rides between Mombasa and Nairobi daily.

While the passenger service seems like the silver lining, the SGR model was mooted and built to ease cargo transportation but even after it was introduced only five months ago is yet to click.

Cargo was supposed to be cleared in less than six hours but this is yet to be achieved with importers waiting for more than three weeks to access their containers.

These challenges have seen most importers shy away from the freight services despite huge discounts that have been offered by the government over time. Experts have since warned that if this trend continues, then the investment will not yield value for taxpayer’s money. 

The government had planned to re-route between 30 and 40 percent of cargo from Kenyan roads through the new cargo service. While this is yet to be achieved, pundits say the project will not break even and servicing the over 300 billion shillings loan may prove a toll order for the country.