Demand for train tickets to and from Mombasa on the andard Gauge Railway (SGR) tickets remains high as operations resumed yesterday.
SGR passenger services, operated by Africa Star Railway Operation Company (Afristar) resumed with one express train, which will be departing Nairobi at 8:00 am with arrival in Mombasa at 12:45 pm.
The train then departs Mombasa at 1:55 pm and arrives in Nairobi at 6:40 pm.
Yesterday, Afristar deployed 10 coaches including eight economic coaches and two first-class coaches.
One separate coach is added for suspected Covid-19 patients.
An economy coach has 118 seats while a First-class coach has 72 seats.
The current maximum seat occupancy is 50 per cent as per government directives on social distancing.
The firm reported a total of 967 tickets were sold for the trains operated on Monday- A1 Mombasa-Nairobi( 485 tickets) and A2 Nairobi-Mombasa( 482 tickets.)
" The A1 and A2 trains that shall travel on 14.07.2020 are fully booked at 50 per cent capacity," the firm said in a statement.
The current maximum capacity of an economy coach is 59 seats and 36 seats for a first-class coach.
"For the maximum capacity (eight economy and two first-class) is currently at 544 passengers, that is 472 economy tickets and 72 first-class tickets,"Afristar management said.
Passenger services were suspended on April 7, 2020.
As of the April 6, 2020, over 4.3 million passengers had used Madaraka Express passenger service launched on May 31, 2017.
Cargo trains have continued to operate despite disruptions on the economy by Covid-19.
Between January 1, 2020, and July 10, 2020 Afristar had transported approximately 207,000 TEUs (twenty equivalent unit containers)
This includes 5063 TEUs of dangerous goods,5,052 TEUs of grain and 90 TEUs of essential Covid-19 prevention materials such as disinfectants, ethyl and alcohol.
As of the July 10, 2020, Afristar had ferried 890,264 TEUs totalling over 9.3 million tonnes since the launch of SGR freight services.
As of July 12, 2020, Afristar had operated the SGR safely for 1,139 days.
"Locomotive maintenance team has been conducting inspection and maintenance on the five passenger locomotives to ensure they are in good working condition and are ready to provide safe and efficient transport when passenger services resume, " the company said.
The passenger locomotives are subject to inspections every 10 days and monthly locomotive running tests.
Afristar operates and maintains Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway between Mombasa, Nairobi and Suswa (Naivasha ICD).
