Budget is 3B shillings. Expected finish date is 5 months from start date.
Since 2013 Mt Kenya region has been complaining, to the amusement and even celebration of opponents, that the region doesn’t get national government projects despite thurakus voting heavily.
It got so bad that the region aligned itself with the deputy president. A few leaders (Waiguru, Sabena Chege, Ngunjiri Wambugu) from the region tried to downplay the rise of Ruto but by mid 2019 it was clear that Ruto was rising in popularity.
The president’s advisors must have realised that thurakus are seriously frustrated so now they are throwing a bone to the region.
If this railway line is completed and running in a short period then Uhuru will have boosted farmers in a big way. https://i1.wp.com/saharatribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/rail.png?w=632&ssl=1
There has been talk of building new track, because non exists, from Nanyuki to Isiolo. That will be costly because it is actually starting from scratch. Do they even have land or will they start buying?
Meru leaders must not let the conversation be settled until they get the line extended. Nairobi too stands to benefit from produce from Meru so even Sonko should lobby for the line to reach Meru. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQERJBEAp-pcSK9U4Bg2qUgT53-ntmcYSYw5wFB1l0EiAv9b7VG
Nothing much comes out of anything Uhuru touches.
Yet another grand white elephant.
Who in their right mind wants to spend half a day on trains using last century technology?
It can only be good for tourism and school trips.
African bonobos forget that the british were a superpower who knew what they were doing when they biult that railway… This railway line will reduce transportation costs for farmers and develop these towns too
You are old but very dumb. You have Google right there at your finger tips. Have you even bothered to confirm if they make modern trains that run on MGR? Of course not.
The very same China recently made train coaches for MGR lines in Malaysia.
Before we started on the SGR, questions were asked, what was wrong with our MGR, why not rehabilitate it. But then we had the likes of @spear and @gashwin .
That was its primary use in the colonial era when large farms existed.
Today, such a model cannot work with small scale farmers.
That is why it died in the first place, subdivision of land in Laikipia led to almost no farmer producing enough to feed the line.
It will be used for passengers as it will be cheaper than taking a matatu.
A look at when it was active between 2005 and 2010, it cost sh 100 from Nyeri to Nairobi at a time when matatu fare cost double.
Put on faster trains, more comfortable coaches and a regular schedule, passenger can work.
I often suspect Gakuru was killed because of this maneno. You remember Uhuru was out there sweet talking the Chinese to give him more Sgr loans whereas Gov. Gakuru a brilliant, well educated man was back here talking common sense about reviving mgr. He was saying he will work with other governors to link Central kenya via the old MGR the same plan he had when he advised Kibaki govt.
Jamaa alidinywa na chuma ya barabara for thinking like a sensible human. Now this fucker above is today stealing that dream after he was denied his sgr loans.
I have explained this before.
A rehabilitated MGR can carry AT Most 5.4 million tonnes of cargo per year due to its limited load weight capacity, especially past Nairobi where it is hilly. This is what both the World Bank and RVR established.
That is why we opted for the SGR which btw, can evacuate all 30 million tonnes handled at Mombasa (though the Government often says it can handle 15 million, because they quote only single stack trains so as to placate truckers).
The MGR can be good for passengers, which is why the commuter train system in Nairobi and Mombasa, it is fine as it is though I believe it needs some curve adjustments in Nairobi if we are to have faster trains(surprisingly the Mombasa one can be as fast as the Japanese trains except for the Makupa Causeway section as it is largely straight)
But when it comes to cargo, there are no MGRs across the globe where they are used primarily for such, even in India, Australia and Japan where MGRs exist to date, the focus is on passenger, not freight.
I got tired of saying that Africans have outdated brain software. Ape Ver 2.0 last update was 9000BC. When you see Africans carrying loads on their backs just know they are not yet fully human. Whenever they use machines meant for human beings they use them wrongly.
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[SIZE=5]Meter Gauge Electric light rail in Malaysia. I remember @GERALD9949 saying that MGR cannot corner at top speeds. Ati mgr is too ancient and can’t be electrified.[/SIZE]
