By Akanimo Sampson
The rehabilitation of the Longonot-Eldoret-Malaba Metre-Gauge Railway (MGR) in Kenya has begun in earnest.
The project which is being handled by Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) is aimed at boosting transport from Mombasa to Malaba on the Kenya-Uganda border. According to North Rift region board chairman, Pastor Awitta, a retired Army Major General, the rehabilitation exercise is already in high gear and construction would take between seven and eight months to be completed.
“There will be a lot of activities in this region in the next seven to eight months; the revival of the railway will shorten time used to transport cargo from Mombasa to Malaba and neighbouring countries”, he said. The chairman also revealed that the project would be supervised by a team led by the Uasin Gishu County Commissioner Stephen Kihara during the rehabilitation period.
Expressing his delight over the project, Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago also asked the team to consider the rehabilitation of the passenger train service, which was expected to open up business in the North rift region.
“Before the railway collapsed, this region used to ferry 1,000 live animals and their products to Kenya Meat Commission by rail. We are looking forward to the revival of this line because it would transform this region.
“We have discussed and agreed that those who have encroached into the railway land be given a little time to harvest their crops. We also want our young people to be involved in the rehabilitation works,” he stated.The Longonot-Eldoret-Malaba MGR rehabilitation project is an addition to various railway lines that have been under rehabilitation in recent months aimed at connecting Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to the Western region.
