President William Ruto Approves Bill to Split Kenya Railways
On Monday, the Cabinet approved the 2024 Railway Amendment Bill, which aims to divide the Kenya Railways into three entities.
After a session led by President William Ruto, the Cabinet concluded that adopting this approach would provide Kenya with a competitive advantage in the East African region and improve overall efficiency.
“To fortify Kenya as a regional logistics hub, the Cabinet approved the Railway Amendment Bill 2024 that aims at initiating new ways of running railways and separating the business of freight, commuter, and land development,” the Cabinet dispatch read in part.
As per Cabinet resolutions, Kenya Railways stands out as one of the largest landholders in the country, even though a significant portion of its land remains unused.
The Railway Amendment Bill 2024, upon its endorsement, will facilitate the transformation of vacant land into railway cities across different regions of the nation.
A Railway City has been inaugurated in Nairobi, and with the given authorization, this concept is set to expand to other regions traversed by the railway line.
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“The Bill proposes that the private sector, investors, and even county governments run the railway cities. In such cases, Kenya Railways will become a regulator,” the Cabinet dispatch expounded.
The initiation of the first phase of Nairobi Railway City’s construction took place in December 2023, with an anticipated expenditure of ksh12 billion from public funds.
The Nairobi Railway City is a multimodal, transit-oriented, and urban development project boasting a new Nairobi Central Railway station and a public square.
Other major cities and towns that could see the development of their own railway cities include Mombasa, Athi River, Naivasha, and Kisumu.
The handing over of thousands of acres of prime land to the private sector for the development of the cities will raise fears of land grabbing.
Already, the Nairobi project has taken 425 acres of prime land within the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).
President William Ruto Approves Bill to Split Kenya Railways
