Kenya praises quality of China-made trains

The government of Kenya defended the quality of Chinese-made Standard Gauge Railway trains that landed in the country in January, while answering questions on the operation of the railway system.

James Macharia, the cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Development says the locomotives are state-of-the-art and will attain high speeds.

Operation of the SGR is expected to begin in June.

Macharia's comments follow criticism by some experts that the engines are outdated and unlikely to hit top speeds; they argue that the country may have got a raw deal.

Macharia says the government is aware of the mixed reaction from Kenyans - a combination of anxiety and excitement about the locomotives, coaches and operations of the new railway system.

Regarding engineering, procurement and construction of the locomotives and rolling stock, including the coaches, Macharia says, "I would like to reassure Kenyans that a government team did due diligence on the contactor and its partners, and confirmed their capacity in terms of training, technology transfer, operations, maintenance and capacity to handle freight and passenger operations in Kenya."

The SGR will be operated by John Holland, an Australian company that became a subsidiary of China Communications and Construction Co following an acquisition deal that was finalized in 2015.

Macharia says the government has authorized Kenya Railways to discuss an operations and maintenance contract for the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR with the EPC contractor.

Management contracts are a popular model for providing operations and maintenance services for railways with similar models in operation or under consideration in many parts of the world.

In the case of the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR, the operator will be required to meet specified targets related to freight volumes and quality of passenger and freight staff training.

The locomotives were manufactured by China Railway Rolling Stock Corp, in Qishuyan, Jiangsu province.

Beginning in January, Kenya received 12 locomotives, 32 coaches and 60 freight cars out of the expected 56 locomotives, 1,620 freight cars and 40 passenger coaches.

The fleet includes 43 DF8B locomotives for use with freight, five DF11 locomotives for passengers and eight DF7G shunting locomotives. Each freight train will have a load capacity of 4,000 tons (216 TEUs) with a design speed of 80 kilometers per hour. Each passenger train will have a capacity of 1,096 passengers, with a design speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

According to Kenya Railways, express passenger trains known as intercity trains will be operated between Nairobi and Mombasa. The trains will only stop at Mtito Adei - in Makueni county in the country's southeastern region - to allow for the passing of another train in the opposite direction.

The journey between Mombasa and Nairobi is expected to take four hours and 30 minutes. Passenger trains will be given priority on the line.

There will also be county trains that will stop at seven designated passenger stations. Those trains will take five hours and 25 minutes between Mombasa and Nairobi, traveling at 85 km/h.

The locomotives have a design life of 30 years but may reach 50 with proper maintenance.

According to China Road and Bridge Corp, the locomotives have been customized to suit Kenya's tropical savannah climate. This was done after extensive field research on the local environment by Chinese experts to ensure that the engines are durable, efficient and meet the Kenyan government's specifications and expectations.

Macharia says the next batch of locomotives will arrive in the country in May, one month before the opening of the Nairobi-Mombasa SGR, which is 99 percent complete.

"For the next three months, our focus will be testing the track, facilities and trains to ensure that the highest standards are achieved. After that, the construction contractor will hand over the facility to the operator," Macharia says.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/03/2017 page28)