KENYA: The three types of 1 435 mm gauge diesel locomotives which CRRC Qishuyan is supplying for the 473 km Mombasa – Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway were unveiled at the factory in China on December 16.
The company is supplying a total of 56 locomotives. There will be 43 DF8B locomotives for use on freight trains, five DF11 locomotives for passenger trains and eight DF7G shunting locomotives. They will have 16V280ZJA diesel engines.
Kenya Railways Corp reports that civil works for the Mombasa to Nairobi line are now substantially complete, with commissioning planned for June 2017.
Meanwhile, the governments of Kenya and Uganda have signed an agreement setting out a framework for the joint operation of the future Mombasa – Kampala Standard Gauge Railway. The governments have agreed that there will a single operator for the route, with locomotives and rolling stock able to be used across both countries.
- An in-depth article about the Kenyan SGR project appeared in the June 2016 issue of Railway Gazette International magazine, which subscribers can access in the digital archive.
