Commuters in Nairobi will now enjoy hourly rides through the commuter rail project following the arrival of six more diesel multiple units from Spain for Ksh1.1 billion.
This was the second batch received by Kenya Railways in its move to decongest the city.
Omudho Awitta, Kenya Railways Corporation Board chair said that they are now working on a module to embark on hourly rides.
Already, five DMUs launched in 2020 have been operating in Syokimau, Embakasi and Nairobi routes.
“The six batch of DMU’s have arrived in the country from Spain. We will now have trains running every hour across the Nairobi metropolitan area,” KRC chairman Omudho Awitta told the Business Daily in an interview.
The major commuter rail routes are Nairobi-Kikuyu, Nairobi-Embakasi, Nairobi-Syokimau and Nairobi-Ruiru.
Recently, Kenya Railways introduced the Nairobi-Limuru route and the Nairobi-Athi River route.
Kenya Railways in its plan to decongest traffic in Nairobi seek to increase passenger capacity to 132,000 from the current 13,000 daily.
More DMU on the rail means this goal can be achieved. A single DMU carries 774 passengers.
The DMUs were sold after Spain adopted an electric rail system running from Island Mallorca. The second-hand units were then refurbished and purchased by Kenya.
There are an estimated 200,000 commuters to the city daily, most of whom rely on matatus for transport.
