Taxpayers will foot a Sh3.7 billion bill for the construction of a line connecting the standard gauge railway (SGR) to the old track from Naivasha to the border town of Malaba.
A supplementary budget tabled in Parliament shows that Sh2.7 billion will be spent on the construction between Naivasha Internal container Depot (ICD) and the Longonot railway link.
A further Sh1 billion will fund the rehabilitation works of the century-old Longonot- Malaba metre gauge railway as Kenya seeks to create a seamless connection from the Port of Mombasa to Uganda.
Construction of the new 23.5-kilometre track from Naivasha to Longonot started in August last year.
Kenya had initially mulled tapping a private investor to fund the project and use a Chinese contractor, but dropped the plan after the firm quoted in excess of Sh50 billion to upgrade the old line and link it to the Mombasa-Naivasha SGR track.
“Sh2.7 billion is for construction of the Naivasha ICD-Longonot railway link and Sh1 billion is for rehabilitation of the Longonot-Malaba MGR,” Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani said in the supplementary budget.
China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) — which constructed the $4.7 billion (Sh507.6 billion) SGR line from the Port of Mombasa to Naivasha is jointly building the new track with Kenya Railways.
The works are set for completion before end of the year.
