Nairobi — The government has kick-started the process of expanding the Nairobi Central Railway Station, in a bid to ease congestion and improve connectivity within the country's capital.
According to the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) from the KENYA Railways corporation for Phase One of the Nairobi Railway City project, the station will entail other facilities, including 2-level buildings, station entrances and exits, platforms and canopies, and access footbridges.
According to Kenya Railways, some of the notable developments will take place on the East side of the heritage building, where a new entrance building connects directly to a platform bridge with access to all platforms.
Furthermore, the corporation is set to construct a smaller facility at the West, which will provide passgender exiting points, as well as the construction of a second platform bridge.
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To the South of the station, another entrance and exit are to be constructed, similar to those of the Northern side, meaning that entrance and exit would be possible from any platform to both the north and south of the city, according to the corporation.
"A key part of the station development will be increasing capacity from two platforms to nine platforms, facilitating a significant increase in passenger demand and proposed new services," the report stated.
According to the ESIA report, the project will redevelop the station into a multimodal transport interchange, integrating rail, BRT, and pedestrian movement, while converting the current congested matatu and bus parking areas into public parks, plazas, and recreational spaces.
The assessment found that even though the construction phase will present challenges such as noise, dust, traffic disruption, and waste generation in the surrounding areas, these impacts can be managed through proposed mitigation measures, which were proposed by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
These mitigation measures include conducting regular noise survey programmes and maintaining construction equipment, developing long-term biodiversity landscape enhancement, practicing waste segregation during the construction of the facilities, and minimizing machine idling time, among other measures.
"The proponent, Kenya Railways Corporation, proposes to regenerate and redevelop the Nairobi Central Station (NCS) site into a new iconic city Centre development that will improve accessibility and capacity of the railway for all passengers," NEMA noted in a gazette notice dated December 11.
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Kenya Railways noted that, in addition to positioning Nairobi as a leading modern city at the global level, the project aims to bring various economic benefits, including job creation during construction, increased land value, attraction of investment, and improved business opportunities within Nairobi's city centre.
