Nairobi commuter train services operated by Kenya Railways Corporation resumed on Monday, January 3rd after a break during the holiday season.
Kenya Railways had cited low demand for the Nairobi service during the festive period when it announced the suspension from December 28, 2021 up to January 3, 2022. Routes on the Nairobi service include the Nairobi-Ruiru route, Nairobi-Embakasi, Nairobi-Athi River/Lukenya, Nairobi-Syokimau and Nairobi-Kikuyu.
“Thank you for embracing our Nairobi Commuter Rail (NCR) Service in 2021. Please note that normal operations resume tomorrow; January 3, 2022…We endeavour to provide safe, efficient, reliable, and affordable services,” Kenya Railways noted in a statement.
The resumption comes amid a travel surge driven by the reopening of schools and Kenyans trooping back to cities and towns after spending their holidays upcountry.
Kenya Railways also shared its schedule for train services on the Nairobi Commuter Rail (NCR) for 2022. Train departure and arrival times remain unchanged from last year. (See full schedules below).
The corporation also confirmed that the JKIA commuter rail service remains operational. You can catch the train from the Nairobi Central station at 0545 hrs, 1330 hrs and 2000 hrs to Embakasi Village station, then board the NCR buses into the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
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Stations on the Embakasi route include Embakasi Village, Donholm, Pipeline, Donholm and Makadara. Those on the Kikuyu route are Limuru, Dagoretti, Kikuyu and Kibera.
Stations on the Nairobi Central Station-Athi River/Lukenya route are Lukenya, Athi River, Mlolongo, Embakasi, Imara Daima and Makadara. The Nairobi-Ruiru route includes the Makadara, Dandora, Mwiki, Githurai, Kahawa West and Ruiru routes.
The Nairobi-Syokimau route cuts through Syokimau, Imara Daima and Makadara stations.
See the full schedules below:
Dear Nairobi Commuter Rail:
I am unhappy with the way routes get cancelled without consulting stakeholders. I live in Athi River. I appreciated the use of the 7.30am train to Nairobi. Especially now with the rise in the price of fuel I had planned to make more use of it. 6.18 am is too early as I have to drop off my kids at school. I recieved a rude shock when I arrived at the train station to be told the 7.30am train had been cancelled.
Please return this train. Infact I thought you would increase the number of trains so that every few hours there would be a train to Nairobi. Please consider using a faster train, 1 and a half hours to Nairobi is too long for such a short distance.
In the future maybe you could also consider constucting a parallel railway line so that vehicles going to and from Nairobi are on different lines in a sort of a loop. This works well for the subway system in America.
I hope you will consider my request for a return of the 7.30am train.
Thank you.