China Roads and Bridges Corporation may supervise operations of the standard gauge railway for the next fives years.
Transport CS James Macharia said the government was considering engaging the contractor for the sake of accountability and safety of the users.
This will be part of an agreement that is yet to be finalised as the government seeks to gradually transfer skills of running the railway to local operators.
“Although not yet formalized, we shall be working towards making the contractor to be the operator. We want the contractor to test the track so that "we do not have a train flipping," Macharia said when he inspected the project at Athi River on Monday.
“We are challenged in the number of skilled people who can run the trains. The operation will improve the capacity of the local operators,” he added.
The China firm constructed the railway line between Mombasa and Nairobi which the CS said was way ahead of the June 1, 2017 schedule.
He said the construction of the phase covering Nairobi-Naivasha will commence in October.
“The first phase is 80 per cent complete with more than 200 kilometres track laid. We anticipate to test it between December and June next year,” Macharia said.
The Sh420 billion project is expected to offer cheaper and faster transportation solutions across the country.
It is envisaged that the freight costs will fall to Sh8.05 per tonne per kilometre from Sh20.12.
An average trip from Mombasa to Nairobi using SGR trains will average four hours.
Atanas Maina, Kenya Railways managing director, said an order for 56 trains has already been sent.
They include 8 shunting, 5 passenger and 43 mainline locomotives.
Some 1620 wagons – a mixture of both boxed and flat – have also been ordered.
“Based on the progress of the project as well as what the contractor has promised us, we will meet the 2017 June deadline,” Maina said.
One train will be able to transport 216 20-feet containers per trip, which is the equivalent of about 108 trucks by road.
Maina also allayed fears that SGR would cripple trucking industry as there will be enough cargo to sustain both sectors.
“Of the 27 million cargo transported annually, we will eventually be able to transport 22 million cargo per year by rail,” he said
Maina said trucks will still have their market share as they only have a capacity to carry 1.2 million tonnes.
“There will be enough business for all of us,” he said.