The Kenyan government will launch in March the construction of the extension of their Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Naivasha to Kisumu, completing the link from the Port of Mombasa, the capital city of Nairobi and Kisumu on Lake Victoria. With a length of 264 km, the extension is dubbed SGR Phase 2B. The main contractor is China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) along with its subsidiary, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
The groundbreaking is scheduled for March 18-20, and construction is expected to be completed by June 2027 at an estimated cost of $5 billion. The project will fall under the responsibility of Kenya's Ministry of Roads and Transport. Kenya Railways Corporation will be responsible for maintenance of the railway line. It will be fully funded by the Kenyan government. The line will not be electrified until the national power capacity has been upgraded.Citing Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Maingam, the Construction Review website revealed the launching of the project on Feb. 26. Kisumu’s Governor Anyang Nyong’o welcomed the project as a dream come true, and a fulfillment of the original vision of linking the Kenyan coast to Lake Victoria.The impact of the project goes well beyond Kenya. Late last year, neighboring Uganda began construction of its first SGR, a 271 km line running from its capital, Kampala, to Malaba on the Kenyan border, where with it will link up with the network, giving landlocked Uganda a direct rail connection with the Kenyan port of Mombasa. It is being built by the Turkish company Yapi Merkezi and is expected to be completed in four years. Uganda and Tanzania also announced last year that they will work to link their SGRs, giving Uganda direct access to the Tanzanian port of Dar Es Salaam.Last year the East African Community adopted a proposal for the development of a 6,220 km SGR project that will link the member states, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. While most of the network is still on the drawing boards, Kenya and Tanzania have already completed more than 1,000 km of this network.
