Construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR) line from Naivasha to Malaba is expected to start as the government sets aside billions of shillings, just months after President William Ruto visited China seeking funding.
The construction is expected to start early this year with at least 10 percent of the 475 kilometres projected to be built by June, official documents with details on government plans for the project show.
Medium term expenditure framework for the energy, infrastructure and ICT sectors shows that in the four years to June 2028, the government projects to have completed three-quarters of the project, with funding for rail transport totalling Sh212 billion.
The 75 percent completion of the Naivasha-Malaba SGR line (equivalent to 356km) is an acceleration of the scale of project implementation in Kenya’s rail transport, where only 23.5km of railway lines were constructed in the three years to June 2024.
“During the FY 2021/22-2023/24, constructed 23.5km and rehabilitated 793.74km of railway lines, acquired SGR and meter gauge rail (MGR) rolling stock and wagon ferry (MV Uhuru II),” the State Department for Transport notes.
During a visit to China in September last year, President Ruto indicated that seeking funding for the SGR extension was among key projects he was pursuing.
“Held talks with the leadership of the China Communications Construction Company led by Chairman Wang Tongzhou in Beijing, China. Discussed various projects such as the Rironi-Mau Summit-Malaba dual carriageway, Galana-Kulalu Irrigation Project, Bomas International Conference Centre and the expansion of the SGR into the region,” said Dr Ruto while in China.
Over the four years to June 2028, construction of the SGR line from Naivasha to Malaba has been listed among 25 priority programmes lined up for implementation by the energy, infrastructure and ICT sectors.
After constructing 10 percent of the project during the current fiscal year, the State Department for Transport projects to build another 10 percent in each of the following two years, then hit a 75 percent by June 2028.
The government projects that rail transport will require a Sh212 billion budget from the current fiscal year through to 2027-28, with funding expected to increase from the year starting July 2025.
In the current fiscal year, rail transport has been allocated Sh28 billion, which is projected to increase to Sh59.9 billion in the 2025-26 fiscal year, before rising further to Sh61.9 billion and Sh61.7 billion in 2026-27 and 2027-28 fiscal years.
In May last year, then Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen indicated that the SGR extension was expected to cost $5.3 billion (about Sh686 billion).
The government also projects to acquire 336 SGR locomotive wheelsets and five SGR passenger locomotives over two years from July.
This is in addition to 300 SGR wagons, 200 MGR wagons, 20 SGR Coaches, and 16 MGR locomotives that have been acquired since July 2021.
