Rift Valley railways receive rails worth $ 19 million

By Eric Akasa

Regional rail operator Rift Valley Railways is set to increase freight volumes, with the arrival of $19Million worth of rail to be used in the repair worn out curves on the sections of the permanent way between Nairobi and Mombasa totaling to 70kms.

Speaking during the event to receive the materials, RVR Group Chief Executive, Brown Ondego confirmed that RVR had shipped in 6,869 Metric tonnes of rails bars, 10,000 sleepers, and other rail accessories which have been expensed out of the first tranche of the finance package signed in August 2011.

He pointed out that RVR’s primary focus is to improve the condition of the permanent way so as to improve transit times as line-speeds will increase from the current restrictions of between 25- 30km/h to 70km/h, provide quality and reliable rail service through operating bigger capacity trains, enhance the overall efficiency of the railway operations and increase the quality and quantity of the rolling stock. 

“We expect to start laying the permanent way immediately and we progressively increase speeds on the back of the developing efficiency on the tracks.” He explains

In addition to the relaying of the railway, RVR has also commissioned another project in Uganda, “We recently commissioned the construction of 9 culverts on the Uganda side of the track between Busembatia and Jinja at a cost of $4.9million which we expect to be completed by December 2012.

“Once these two projects are complete, the reliability and efficiency of our operations will improve significantly as we will be able to run bigger capacity trains, thereby improving our loading capacity and reducing the operation’s transit times,” Brown adds.

On rolling stock the rehabilitation of wagons, is under way with work on wagons expected to begin in August. Already steel tyres and other spare parts have been received both Kenya and Uganda. The first phase of this project will cost USD62.1 million and it’s expected to be completed by December 2014. 

Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Transport, Dr. Eng. Cyrus Njiru reiterated the governments’ support for RVR as a major player in the transport sector pointing out that growth of freight business in the region would bolster the operations even further. 

“We see RVR as an important partner in the economic growth of our country and the region where a well performing Railway is an imperative as it is an important link from the port of Mombasa into the Eastern Africa Market. Presently, the port of Mombasa handles an average of 20 million tonnes annually. Conservative projections show that freight business into East Africa is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4% over the next five years. We have every confidence that the turnaround programme undertaken by RVR will play its part in decongesting the port and ultimately providing a link to trade in Eastern Africa” notes Njiru

In its current state RVR moves an average of 1.7millon tonnes annually, just 7% of the current market share. Given the projected 10% annual market growth, RVR plans to grow its market share to between 10%-12% to average 4.5million tonnes of the 26million tonnes of cargo at the port of Mombasa by 2015.

Other projects expected to start in the second half of the year are rehabilitation of 16 locomotives to provide pulling power to be completed by July, 2013 and installation of Automatic Train Warranty Systems (ATW) to be completed in early 2013.