Since the completion of Thika Superhighway more than four years ago, investors in the PSV sector have continued to exploit the opportunities that came with the superhighway.
Initially, only 14-seater matatus used to ply route 237 (Thika-Nairobi) before the state-of-the-art road came into being. However, today as we talk, there are more than five bus companies plying the route.
Some of them are featured here and why various travellers will consider using one company over the other.
Manchester Buses/ Beaverline as the name suggests are full of Manchester Football Club stuff. From MFC colours, players and coaches. These are painted on the bus both inside and outside. The minibuses are usually trendy, have loud music and full of life inside. As nature would have it, they are young people's favourite when travelling to Nairobi from Thika and vice versa. The main shortcomings of the buses is that they are usually targeted by the police for various traffic offences like overloading, picking and dropping passengers at undesignated areas. Woe unto you if you are in a hurry, because the buses are also notorious for stopping almost at every stage for customers.
Chania Travellers Buses were the first buses ever to ply route 237. They are big and spacious and are known for charging the cheapest fares from Thika to Nairobi and vice versa. In a normal weekday, they charge Sh40 to Nairobi while on a weekend the fare drops to Sh30. They don't have many traffic issues and their crew is relatively old and mature. The buses are, however, not very clean inside and they take a long time to fill at the stage thus discouraging those in a hurry to travel. They are a darling to the old generation.
Neo-Kenya Mpya Buses are the ones if they were chics or dudes, your parents would warn you about. Over the past few months they have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Accidents!
However, with all their problems, they are the most popular and most preferred buses along route 237. Just like the Chania travellers buses, they are big. They are also trendy. In fact, this is where the old generation and youthful travellers meet. They are well kept, clean, comfortable seats and have cool music that is neither loud nor too soft. They fill very fast at the stage, don't stop haphazardly at every stage and are also cheap, Sh50 to Sh60 from Thika to Nairobi. Their crew is a blend of youthful and old drivers and are known to travel at extremely high speeds, one of the reason they are involved in accidents.
Keep it here for more of these and such scoops.