Cargo transport from Mombasa to Malaba then to Kampala will now be faster, easier and cheaper after the refurbishment of the Meter Gauge Railway and commissioning of a transshipment hub at Naivasha Inland Container Depot.
The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) have been fused in a move that will reduce the time taken for cargo transportation by 48 hours.
Speaking during the launch of the transshipment on January, Monday 17, the Kenya Railways Managing Director Peter Mainga said traders will also save on transportation costs.
“Traders will save over $1,200 per container if they choose to use rail over the road to transport cargo from Mombasa to Malaba. And this is because it costs $2,000 per container to transport cargo by road. But by using the new SGR/ MGR rail link it will cost $860 to transport the same cargo from Mombasa to Malaba,” Mainga said.
Today, 54 containers were transferred from the SGR train to MGR bringing the total number of trains that have been engaged in the service to three.
The cargo will now be transported by SGR from Mombasa to the Inland Container Depot at Naivasha then transshipped from the SGR train to the Meter Gauge Railway which transports the containers to Malaba.
Before this, transport via road was taking up to three days but the time has now been reduced to one day and four hours.
On January 12, President Uhuru Kenyatta inspected the facility which will now be used for transshipment across East Africa.
