Cargo uptake on the SGR has continued to register an upward trend with growth on volumes hauled from the Port of Mombasa compared to last year.
Last month, 23,040 TEUs (Twenty-Foot equivalent Unit)–the approximate unit of measure of a container, were moved by the SGR freight service to both the Nairobi and Naivasha Inland Container Depots.
This is 28.2 per cent more than the 17,974 TEUs moved during the same month last year, a time when Covid-19 had not yet hit economies.
The February performance translates to an average of 8.2 trains carrying over 800 TEUs per day (230 trains), against some 210 freight carrying trains that were reported to have made the trip in a similar period last year.
In results released yesterday Kenya Railways Corporation managing director Philip Mainga attributed the improved performance to the newly introduced double-decker loading.
Continued maintenance of containerised loading wagon fleets, which has pushed average daily supply up to 400 wagons to the port of Mombasa by Afristar, the SGR operator, has also played a critical role in improving operations, he said.
On the conventional cargo front, Afristar delivered 128,291 metric tonnes of bulk wheat to Nairobi, both for Kenyan millers and those operating from further in the port’s hinterland in February, 2021, against 3,897 metric tonnes delivered during the comparable period last year.
This is a growth of more than 32 times.
Bulk cargo haulage has been enhanced by the recently introduced service of loading bulk cargo on special high-sided wagons covered with tarpaulins, a process that requires fewer hours to load a train with 46 bulk wagons.
“With the reduced rates for Naivasha ICD, KR continues to appeal to our esteemed clients to continue nominating containers to this new facility,” Mainga said.
Civil works on the link between Naivasha SGR and the Longonot MGR (Metre Gauge Railway) section are now at an advanced stage, and on course to offer quick transition of cargo destined for neighboring countries, the MD noted.
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