Road transport was paralysed for several hours along Nairobi - Athi River Road after a Rift Valley Railways Cargo train derailed blocking it 100.
The empty cargo train headed to Mombasa from Nairobi developed defects on wheels of one of its wagons before the accident occurred on Sunday.
An operational officer from the company who sought anonymity said the train that had 30 fuel tanks and covered wagons was reversing to a parking at Athi River Railways Station for the defects rectifications, before wheels of two covered wagons and a fuel tank came off the rail making them overturn.
Motorists plying the highway were forced to use alternative routes as we pushed apart the wagons to clear the lane," said the officer.
The operations to pull back the train lasted for almost 12 hours as members of the public watched in disbelief. The accident occurred barely a week since another cargo train derailed at Embakasi in Nairobi last Tuesday paralysing transport almost the whole day.
The officer said the derailing could be attributed to the high number of fleets on transit, arguing higher number of fleets increase chances for the wagons and tanks to suffer tear and wear leading to accidents.