ODM Leader Raila Odinga has suffered yet another setback after the government announced that it would not revive the old Nakuru-railway which was to be connected to the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Naivasha.
Odinga had two weeks ago promised Kisumu residents that they would get a rail connection to the SGR which has currently stopped at Naivasha.
The former Prime Minister later accompanied President Uhuru Kenyatta to China seeking funds to continue the SGR to Kisumu – a project that the Chinese government rejected.
Initially, Transport CS James Macharia, said the government had instead opted to revive the old railway line from Nakuru to Kisumu at a cost of Sh40 billion.
However, on Wednesday, the Transport CS announced change of mind, saying the Nakuru-Eldoret-Malaba would instead be revived.
Macharia said the decision was made after realizing that the line to Kisumu was too dilapidated but promised the ministry would consider extending the SGR to the lakeside city in the future.
“The reality is that the Nakuru-Kisumu line is not in good shape; it has 17 bridges which have been vandalized and may require doing a new line altogether”.
“We will have to weigh against the fact that in future, we still have to do the SGR to Kisumu,” Macharia said.
Reviving the Nakuru-Eldoret-Malaba rail line is expected to cost Sh21 billion.