11 second-hand diesel commuter trains procured from Spain at a negotiated price of Sh1.15 billion are set to arrive in Kenya mid next month.
Trucks carrying the refurbished Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) left the city of Mallorca for Barcelona on Thursday, from where they will be shipped to Mombasa.
Housing and Urban Planning Principal Secretary Charles Hinga shared on Twitter photos of the locomotives being loaded onto trucks in Spain.
The agreement for the purchase of the DMUs was signed in March this year by Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga and officials from Regional Ministry of Energy and Mobility in Mallorca.
The acquisition of the trains is part of the government’s plan to decongest Nairobi city by increasing the number of train commuter users from the current 300,000 to three million a month.
Kenya Railways said the diesel units manufactured by Spain’s Construcciones and Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) between 1994 and 2003 have a lifespan of between 23 and 25 years.
Nine railway stations have been built at Kenyatta University, Umoja, Kibera, Thogoto, Mbagathi Way, Kitengela, Dagoretti and Strathmore University ahead of the arrival of the Spain-made trains.
Kenya just bought pieces of…
Kenya just bought pieces of junk and wasted all that tax payers money! You pay for crap to come dump it a huge landfill next to Kibera. I have the way Kenyan leading reason things through! Would you buy your wife a car that was build in 1994? Please don’t tell me the locomotives are diesel and can run until the coming back of Christ! What a shame!?
Does Kenya have any more…
Does Kenya have any more pride left? Why buy Spanish junk that never runs throughout the day without breaking down in Spain! Why??????
Why is it that when other…
Why is it that when other countries are getting rid of junks and going for bullet, electric trains, Kenya, unlike other countries is waiting and helping dump them? More so, the world is trying to minimize pollution bt avoiding burning fossil fuel but funny thing, Kenya is trying to cause more? Kenya tulikosea wapi?
So ashamed, will be…
So ashamed, will be breakdowns after breakdowns just wait and see
Kenya Railways said the…
Kenya Railways said the diesel units manufactured by Spain’s Construcciones and Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) between 1994 and 2003 have a lifespan of between 23 and 25 years.
Bure Kabisa..need trains with latest technology in terms of safety economic and reliability not forgeting durability cost effective.
Great job. See nothing wrong…
Great job. See nothing wrong here
Looks like a tenderpreneur…
Looks like a tenderpreneur has a spare parts tender in their pocket already.
This is old junk. We should…
This is old junk. We should invest in the latest equipment. I wouldn’t be shopping anywhere in Spain. This is like buying a twenty year old car. You will be visiting the mechanic every month. Simply put, you are screwed!!! The fleecing of Kenyans continues. Shame, shame, shame.
Woi woi woi, maskini. I am…
Woi woi woi, maskini. I am at the point of tears for wananchi wa Kenya! I wouldve laughed if it was rwanda,somali or Eritrea and blame it on vita but in Kenya??? Haki this is too sad..First lets see built in 2003 so 25 yrs..at best you have 2-3 years before they fall apart and we are PAYING them for THEIR junk. Why does GoK hussle kenyans from the US ati no cars over 8 years bla bla bla and yet this ancient diesel crap will be belching toxic smoke for the 3million trips it intends to make. Start investing in lung cancer,emphysema and asthma products. Nairobians will be screwed in 10-15 years with that diesel pollution.
This on the heels that china wont finance the naivasha to UG rail. Govts are broke so they telling NYS to work on rehauling the line to kisumu port, just like the wahindi hundred years ago with manual kazi ya mikono sweat labor and ancient engines. I actually thought these were the engines for that Rift valley portion. So sad.
Philip Mainga whatever you…
Philip Mainga whatever you are smoking, please drink milk.
You’re out of your mind.