In January, Kenya Railways received the first batch of 6 locomotives from China and they will be deployed on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line. The locomotives are manufactured by CRRC Qishuyan.
As part of EPC contract for construction of the Mombasa to Malaba SGR, has ordered ordered 56 locomotives, 40 passenger coaches and 1,620 wagons. Of the 56 locomotives, 43 will be used for freight transport, 5 for passenger transport, while another 8 will be used for shunting operations.
More rolling stock for operations on the line is being shipped in the country with the next batch expected to arrive in February. The batch of rolling stock also includes tamping machines and ballasting machines to be used for line maintenance.
The locomotives will transport 22 million tonnes of cargo with each freight train capable of pulling a trailing load of 4,000 tonnes whereas each passenger train can carry a maximum of 1,096 passengers.
The cargo trains have a design speed of 100 km/h and will travel at the recommended operation speed of 80 km/h, traveling 8 hours between Mombasa and Nairobi. Passenger trains have a design speed of 180 km/h and will travel at the recommended operation speed of 120 km/h.
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