President Uhuru Kenyatta has unveiled the Nairobi hourly commuter rail system, a move that seeks to reduce the time spent by residents in traffic, thus easing the transport process.
The 5 Diesel Multiple Units (DMU) commissioned yesterday are part of the 11 refurbished diesel units that the country bought from Spain at the cost of KSh1.17 billion.
The new commuter rail system will serve Ruiru, Mwiki, Embakasi Village, Athi River, Kikuyu, Kahawa, Githurai, Dandora, Pipeline, and Donholm.
Apart from the commuter rail system launch, the refurbished Nairobi Central Railway Station was also commissioned, which will be the nerve center of operations connecting to the ten stations mentioned above.
The refurbished Nairobi Railway Station now has card activated ticket barriers and a new platform. Henceforth, passengers will be paying using either cash or mobile transaction via M-Pesa.
After shipping in the six remaining DMUs, Kenya Railways will also construct an additional 20 mini-train stations along Kikuyu, Ruiru, and Embakasi line.
Kenya Railways will operate daylong hourly trains to and from the stations. They will integrate it with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, which will connect the train station with matatu and commuter bus termini.
The president said the government has so far spent KSh6.6 billion in upgrading the commuter rail stations within the Nairobi Metropolitan region, including the access roads and the integrated and modern ticketing system that accommodates offsite booking.
The project is supported by the World Bank, which funded the preliminary studies to do the master plan, and the Spanish and French governments, which helped acquire the DMUs and revamp the line from Syokimau and JKIA, respectively.
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