•The revision is part of continued engagement with the business community and stakeholders on freight rates, Kenya Railways managing director Philip Mainga says.
•Goods destined for the hinterland can now be delivered cost-effectively to and from Naivasha, reducing the cost of doing business and spurring regional economic growth, he says.
Kenya Railways has slashed the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) cargo tariffs in a move aimed at promoting use of the Naivasha dry port.
The corporation has announced a price reduction of up to $90 (9,877) on the freight charges between the Port of Mombasa and the Naivasha ICD, effective February 16.
Moving a 20-foot full range container from Mombasa to Nairobi now costs $510 (Sh55,972), down from $600 (Sh65,850), and $255 (Sh24,693) on the down direction (Naivasha-Mombasa).
On the other hand, moving a 40-foot container weighing up to 20.9 tonnes costs $725 (Sh79,568) between Mombasa-Naivasha down from $850 (Sh93,287) and $360 (Sh39,510) down direction (Naivasha-Mombasa).
A 40-foot container weighing 21 tonnes and above costs $ 775 (Sh85,056) on the up direction (Mombasa-Naivasha), from $910 (Sh99,872) and $390 (Sh42,802 ) down direction (Naivasha-Mombasa).
“Transporting all the above container sizes when empty (EX-UP direction) will cost USD 120 by rail and USD 180 by road,” management said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Goods destined for the hinterland, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo can now be delivered cost-effectively to and from Naivasha, thus reducing the cost of doing business and spurring regional economic growth through trade facilitationKenya Railways managing director Philip Mainga
The conventional cargo is billed at $0.044 per tonne per kilometres with the rail distance between Mombasa and Naivasha ICD being 553 kilometres.
The old prices have been in place since August last year.
Moving containers between Mombasa and Nairobi are costing between $500 (Sh54,875 ) and $750 (Sh82,312) depending on size, and between $250 (Sh27,437 ) and $375(Sh41,156) on the down direction, with empty containers costing $100 (Sh10,975 )to transport on either way.
According to Kenya Railways managing director Philip Mainga, revision is part of continued engagement with the business community and stakeholders on freight rates.
“Goods destined for the hinterland, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo can now be delivered cost-effectively to and from Naivasha, thus reducing the cost of doing business and spurring regional economic growth through trade facilitation,” Mainga said.
He said Kenya Railways has maintained a steady improvement on resources supply to support and sustain cargo evacuations from the Port of Mombasa, working closely with key government agencies namely Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority, and Kenya Bureau of Standards.
During the current month, Africa Star Railway Operation Company (Afristar), the operator of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), has moved 186 trains from the port Up Direction that has so far delivered 18,972 TEUs to the Nairobi ICD.
On a daily basis, the operator has maintained above eight trains, delivering a minimum of between 800 /1000 TEUs.
“The recently introduced two double-deck trains, each conveying 152 TEUs per move, has continued to up the game on containerized cargo, enabling clearance on the old backlogs and maintaining desired loading of units ex hook, directly from discharging vessels,”Manga said.
These efforts have positively reduced the number of vessel waiters, enabling importers to receive their products and factory materials on time, he added.
On conventional cargo, Afristar, the SGR operator, recently introduced loading of bulk cargo on special open type wagons covered with tarpaulins.
This has enabled two daily trains on bulk cargo evacuations. Over 6000 tons of bulk wheat is delivered to Nairobi for further distribution to millers, both local and transit.
Notably, additional bulk wagons above conventional cargo requirements are still being converted to add to more fleets on containerized loading.
“These efforts will be sustained moving forward to reduce on any cargo duel time, geared toward our clients’ service level satisfaction,” said Mainga.
The government is counting on the Naivasha dry port to enhance handling of transit cargo to the hinterland and western parts of the country.
It is also keen to connect the SGR to the Metre Gauge Railways which will see the seamless movement of cargo between Mombasa and the Kenyan-Uganda borders of Busia and Malaba (for transit cargo), and easy movement of goods and passengers between the coastal city and the Rift-Valley, Western and Nyanza regions.