Spanish Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca (SFM) has started delivery of 11 second-hand diesel multiple units (DMUs) following a EUR 9.6 million contract signed with Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) on March 2. The DMUs will be shipped from Barcelona on July 21 and will arrive at the Port of Mombasa 25 days later.
SFM advertised the disposal of the metre-gauge DMUs following the electrification of the Enllaç – Sa Pobla rail line in January 2019.
The value of the contract includes 11 two-car DMUs, five spare coaches, spare parts, wheel profiling and training of KRC staff by SFM.
The Class 61 DMUs were built by CAF between 1995 and 2003 and their remaining economic useful life is estimated at 20-25 years. They will be deployed on five routes radiating from the Nairobi Central Railway Station to Syokimau, Embakasi Village, Thika, Kikuyu and Kitengela.
Kenya Railways Corporation acquired these trains as part of a master plan to modernize and expand commuter rail services in Nairobi in a bid to decongest the city. The DMUs are expected to increase the Nairobi Commuter Rail service capacity to 132,000 passengers per day from the current 13,000.
KRC settled on the reconditioned DMUs after a team from Kenya Railways undertook a technical evaluation of the trains and ascertained the units were operationally suitable. The team also established that SFM had sold similar DMUs to France, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Portugal.
In addition to this purchase, KRC will refurbish 20 loco-hauled diesel coaches to supplement the 40 that are currently in service. The expansion project also involves the construction of nine railway stations – Kenyatta University, Umoja, Kibera, Thogoto, Mbagathi Way, Thika, Kitengela, Dagorreti and Strathmore University.
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