Kenya: construction of new standard-gauge line
Posted: 27 Jan 2010, 22:05
Construction of new, standard-gauge line to ease regional transport woes
By ZEDDY SAMBU
Daily Nation
Posted Tuesday, January 26 2010 at 22:00
In Summary
* As bids for the multi-billion shilling project are opened next week, industry players will have their fingers crossed, hoping it will translate to faster, efficient and more reliable services. And, to maintain the new line, the government is also planning amendments to Kenya’s roads Acts
Kenya is closer to making an ambitious national strategic decision that could help deepen its economic ties with Ethiopia, Southern Sudan and the economies of the Great Lakes region.
Next week Friday, tenders for the design of a new high-speed railway line will be opened, putting into play one of the biggest and most significant infrastructure deals in recent years.
The planned construction, projected to cost Sh320 billion ($4 billion), is expected to take off in two years’ time.
When the plate-laying ceremony was performed on May 30, 1896 in the Indian Ocean coast of Mombasa, it marked the beginning of a new East African century that would open the hinterland to colonialism — and, to a larger part, bring modern medicine, education, gun powder and economic development to the natives.
Lunatic Express
Because of the sheer cost of £5 million in 1896 (Sh610 million at current exchange rates), the drama of marauding lions, disease and death, it would be named the “Lunatic Expressâ€.
Today, Kenya, Uganda and the various nations that will depend on this 1,300-kilometre railway line to export their resources to the world through the Indian Ocean — or access vital supplies — face the deeper challenges of expanding economic development to better the lives of millions of one the most poorest people on the planet.
British engineers a century ago recommended that Kenya and Uganda use the one-metre gauge that was popular in India then. And, because India was to supply the trains, they decided to import a massive labour force from the Indian sub-continent, a decision that would also reshape East African history.
However, the planned broader rail gauge will allow high-speed freight engines and passenger coaches. Freight trains will haul a minimum of 4,000 tonnes of cargo on kilometre-long trains.
Meet demand
The new line is also expected to meet increased transport demands, projected to nearly double to 30 million tonnes by the year 2030.
The search for investors began last year when the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) launched a $4 billion project to build a 1,000-kilometre, standard-gauge line from the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa via the capital, Nairobi, to Malaba on the Ugandan border.
The new line will replace the existing metre-gauge line which KR says will not be able to cope with the projected demand. It will be able to carry 4,000-tonne, 120km/h freight trains and 160km/h double-deck passenger trains.
Rail experts say freight volumes already outstrip available road and rail capacity, causing congestion at the Mombasa Port, which currently handles 17 million tonnes a year.
Current operating speeds on the metre-gauge railway are between 30 and 45km/h.
An ambitious timetable has been drawn for the project. Studies for the new line are to be completed by March 2011, and investors should be in place by July the same year. Construction should start by November 2011.
Officials privy to the plans said they hoped to open the 530-kilometre Mombasa-Nairobi section in 2013, and the remaining section in 2016.
According to the project’s brief, it is envisaged that the Ugandan government will also commence the construction of the section between Malaba and Kampala, and a bilateral agreement to facilitate this is being discussed by the two governments.
The current budget seeks to improve the efficiency of the port of Mombasa, as well as attend to challenges in the railway system.
“The Government of Kenya, working jointly with the Government of Uganda, has made a decision to construct a new standard-gauge railway line from Mombasa to Western Kenya and to Kampala in Uganda. The new railway line will not only reduce the cost of transport, but also facilitate faster movement of freight and passengers, thereby enhancing competitiveness,†the brief says.
Amendments
Treasury has proposed to introduce an amendment to the Roads Maintenance Levy Act and the Kenya Roads Board Act to make the road-bed for railway line development and maintenance eligible for funding. Some Sh3 billion has been set aside for that this financial year.
Infrastructure experts say construction of the new railway will significantly reduce the maintenance costs of the Northern Corridor.
Freight volumes have grown beyond previous projections and already outstrip available transport capacity — both road and rail — causing perennial congestion at the Mombasa Port, and the situation is bound to get worse if a projected freight growth of eight per cent annually is anything to go by.
The current 100-year-old metre-gauge railway line has a limited capacity and cannot cope with this increased demand.
Transportation costs in Kenya and the East African region constitute 40 to 45 per cent of the total cost of production, against a global average of 15 per cent, which makes local products uncompetitive in the global market.
In India and China, for example, railway transport accounts for 90 per cent of long distance freight movement while, in Kenya, a meagre five per cent uses this medium.
By ZEDDY SAMBU
Daily Nation
Posted Tuesday, January 26 2010 at 22:00
In Summary
* As bids for the multi-billion shilling project are opened next week, industry players will have their fingers crossed, hoping it will translate to faster, efficient and more reliable services. And, to maintain the new line, the government is also planning amendments to Kenya’s roads Acts
Kenya is closer to making an ambitious national strategic decision that could help deepen its economic ties with Ethiopia, Southern Sudan and the economies of the Great Lakes region.
Next week Friday, tenders for the design of a new high-speed railway line will be opened, putting into play one of the biggest and most significant infrastructure deals in recent years.
The planned construction, projected to cost Sh320 billion ($4 billion), is expected to take off in two years’ time.
When the plate-laying ceremony was performed on May 30, 1896 in the Indian Ocean coast of Mombasa, it marked the beginning of a new East African century that would open the hinterland to colonialism — and, to a larger part, bring modern medicine, education, gun powder and economic development to the natives.
Lunatic Express
Because of the sheer cost of £5 million in 1896 (Sh610 million at current exchange rates), the drama of marauding lions, disease and death, it would be named the “Lunatic Expressâ€.
Today, Kenya, Uganda and the various nations that will depend on this 1,300-kilometre railway line to export their resources to the world through the Indian Ocean — or access vital supplies — face the deeper challenges of expanding economic development to better the lives of millions of one the most poorest people on the planet.
British engineers a century ago recommended that Kenya and Uganda use the one-metre gauge that was popular in India then. And, because India was to supply the trains, they decided to import a massive labour force from the Indian sub-continent, a decision that would also reshape East African history.
However, the planned broader rail gauge will allow high-speed freight engines and passenger coaches. Freight trains will haul a minimum of 4,000 tonnes of cargo on kilometre-long trains.
Meet demand
The new line is also expected to meet increased transport demands, projected to nearly double to 30 million tonnes by the year 2030.
The search for investors began last year when the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) launched a $4 billion project to build a 1,000-kilometre, standard-gauge line from the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa via the capital, Nairobi, to Malaba on the Ugandan border.
The new line will replace the existing metre-gauge line which KR says will not be able to cope with the projected demand. It will be able to carry 4,000-tonne, 120km/h freight trains and 160km/h double-deck passenger trains.
Rail experts say freight volumes already outstrip available road and rail capacity, causing congestion at the Mombasa Port, which currently handles 17 million tonnes a year.
Current operating speeds on the metre-gauge railway are between 30 and 45km/h.
An ambitious timetable has been drawn for the project. Studies for the new line are to be completed by March 2011, and investors should be in place by July the same year. Construction should start by November 2011.
Officials privy to the plans said they hoped to open the 530-kilometre Mombasa-Nairobi section in 2013, and the remaining section in 2016.
According to the project’s brief, it is envisaged that the Ugandan government will also commence the construction of the section between Malaba and Kampala, and a bilateral agreement to facilitate this is being discussed by the two governments.
The current budget seeks to improve the efficiency of the port of Mombasa, as well as attend to challenges in the railway system.
“The Government of Kenya, working jointly with the Government of Uganda, has made a decision to construct a new standard-gauge railway line from Mombasa to Western Kenya and to Kampala in Uganda. The new railway line will not only reduce the cost of transport, but also facilitate faster movement of freight and passengers, thereby enhancing competitiveness,†the brief says.
Amendments
Treasury has proposed to introduce an amendment to the Roads Maintenance Levy Act and the Kenya Roads Board Act to make the road-bed for railway line development and maintenance eligible for funding. Some Sh3 billion has been set aside for that this financial year.
Infrastructure experts say construction of the new railway will significantly reduce the maintenance costs of the Northern Corridor.
Freight volumes have grown beyond previous projections and already outstrip available transport capacity — both road and rail — causing perennial congestion at the Mombasa Port, and the situation is bound to get worse if a projected freight growth of eight per cent annually is anything to go by.
The current 100-year-old metre-gauge railway line has a limited capacity and cannot cope with this increased demand.
Transportation costs in Kenya and the East African region constitute 40 to 45 per cent of the total cost of production, against a global average of 15 per cent, which makes local products uncompetitive in the global market.
In India and China, for example, railway transport accounts for 90 per cent of long distance freight movement while, in Kenya, a meagre five per cent uses this medium.