The new passenger rail service in the city has inched closer to becoming a reality after the Kenya Railways released the schedule for the newly launched Nairobi Commuter Trains.
Traversing through five estates across Nairobi and its environs, the Diesel Multiple-Units (DMUs), Commuter Trains and Link Trains will operate on a fixed schedule across the city and will charge passengers a flat rate of Sh100 to each destination.
The DMUs are expected to ply city routes which they were assigned based on the overall population in the given areas.
They will be operating from the Nairobi Central Station to the designated stops, which were upgraded last month.
The Nairobi commuter rail project, a brainchild of Kenya Railways Service in conjunction with Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), is part of a master plan for an integrated commuter system within the city and its environs also comprising the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), monorail and underground rail (metro).
Six trains will be leaving the Nairobi Central Station for Syokimau throughout the day with the first train leaving at 6.30am and arriving at 7.03am.
Syokimau terminus to Nairobi Central Station will also see six trains depart from the station at 6,27am and arrive in the CBD at 6,53am with two stops at Imara Daima and Makadara stations.
There will also be other trains departing from the Nairobi Central Station to Embakasi Village terminus each day and vice-versa. These trains will cover Makadara, Donholm and Pipeline areas.
On the Ruiru to Nairobi Central Terminus route, the Kenya Railways said there will be a single train each day in the morning and evening. The morning train will leave the station at 6am and arrive in the CBD at 7.35am, while the evening train will leave at 5.40pm.
The Ruiru route will cover Makadara, Dandora, Mwiki, Githurai and Kahawa West.
There will also be a single train shuttling between Kahawa West and CBD and another one for Kikuyu area.
From Kahawa West, the train will depart at 9am and arrive in the CBD at 10.15am while also making stops at Makadara, Dandora, Mwiki and Githurai.
The Kikuyu route will see the commuter train leave the station at 6am and arrive in the CBD at 7.30 while picking up and dropping passengers in Kibra and Dagoretti.
The new development is expected to attract a substantial proportion of the 1.5 million people who commute into Nairobi CBD every day and make commuting faster and more seamless.
Last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the revamped Nairobi Commuter Rail Service (NCRS) and the refurbished DMUs.
The system consists of new 11 DMUs and Commuter Rail Buses and has been developed within the existing railway corridors.
KR said that any passenger found not to be adhering to Covid-19 containment measures will be denied access to the commuter trains.
