Nairobi — Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has assured that the government is committed to constructing the remaining phases of the Standard Gauge Railway to include Kisumu and Malaba border through Uganda to Rwanda, DRC.
During the Dutch Trade Mission on Port Development, Murkomen said the SGR railway development will be open to private investment adding that the extension will be integrated with the development of logistics hubs and industrial parks.
"The Government has committed to construction of the remaining phases of the Standard Gauge Railway (phase 2B and 2C, to extend to Kisumu and Malaba border. We are currently working with the Government of Uganda to connect the Standard Gauge railway to Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo," he said.
The State Department of Transport has a Sh2.1 trillion plan to extend the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Kisumu, Malaba, and Isiolo by the end of June 2027.
In July, the country brought Uganda on board in the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line after they inked a deal to source funds to build the rail.
The plan, lifted from the Jubilee Government's grand scheme on SGR is part of the Sh3.42 trillion Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset).
Lapsset is aimed at opening up northern Kenya and revamping the northern corridor by spurring movement within Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
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President William Ruto directed fast tracking of the upgrading of the Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo Road section of the LAPSSET Highway to Bitumen Standard, which will ensure there is a complete tarmacked road network linking the Port of Lamu to Ethiopia.
"To date, the upgrading of the Lamu - Ijara - Garissa (250 KM) section is currently at 80% and that of Garissa - Isiolo (288 KM) is at 13%," Murkomen stated.
So far, the SGR from Mombasa to Naivasha has been financed by the Chinese at a total cost of Sh656.1 billion.
In 2014, the government entered into a tripartite agreement with the governments of Rwanda and Uganda to construct a standard gauge railway from Mombasa through Kampala to Kigali, Rwanda.
However, the SGR ended abruptly in Naivasha with China reportedly declining to finance the last leg of the modern railway after failing to strike an agreement with Uganda.
