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Railway to nowhere? Kenya launches cargo services on China-funded line
- Freight transport gets under way on billion-dollar rail extension from Nairobi to Rift Valley
- President hits back at critics questioning viability of project
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Kenya has launched freight services on a new billion-dollar extension of a China-funded railway line to the country’s heart, but questions remain over the viability of the project after authorities failed to secure Chinese financing to extend the line to the border with Uganda.
In Nairobi on Tuesday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta launched cargo operations on the new US$1.5 billion section of the Standard Gauge Railway between the capital and Naivasha, a town in the Rift Valley.
“This will not only help relieve pressure on the Port of Mombasa and the Nairobi Inland Container Depot, but will also take the cargo closer to Uganda and South Sudan by a further 120km (75 miles),” Kenyatta said.
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Also at the launch was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy State Councillor Wang Yong, Chinese ambassador to Kenya Wu Peng and China Communications Construction chairman Liu Qitao.
Wang said Kenya and China were engaged in a mutually beneficial partnership that would work to the advantage of the people of both countries.
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