- Eshiwani said matatus which have been using the terminus will be moved but failed to state where they will be relocated to.
- Already a section of the railways bus station has been sealed off using iron sheets as construction works continue to take shape.
Image: HANDOUT
The Nairobi Metropolitan Services has announced plans to convert the famous Nairobi Railways bus station into a Bus Rapid Transport terminus.
The station, according to NMS deputy director of transport administration Martin Eshiwani, will be used as a picking up and dropping off point for passengers heading to and coming from the Green Park terminus.
“We want to use the space outside Railways Central station for BRT. We want vehicles to drop people who will be using the train or pick up people who have arrived by train to the Green Park terminus,” he said last Friday.
Already a section of the railways bus station has been sealed off using iron sheets as construction work is underway.
Eshiwani said the matatus that have been using the terminus will be moved but failed to state where they will be relocated to.
“For that reason, therefore, all public service vehicles which have been operating from railways terminus will be moved to allow for its development,” he added.
Currently, the place is used as a bus stage for matatus plying Ngong, Langata, Mombasa and Argwings Kodhek roads including from Kawangware, Kibra, Highrise, Ngumo, Langata, Nairobi West, Makadara, Kaberia, Satellite and Kiserian.
It also serves matatus from Ngong, Karen, Rongai, Kikuyu, Mlolongo, Syokimau and Dagoretti.
Last month, NMS together with Kenya Railways Corporation announced they will be offering transport services between Green Park terminus and Nairobi city centre.
Buses from Kenya Railways will be used to carry passengers to and from Green Park and the city centre with priority given to expectant mothers, the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Last year, NMS announced BRT buses will be available for commuters who prefer not to walk or use the boda boda and taxi to enter CBD.
The director emphasised that the intention of the CBD decongestion plan is to accommodate all stakeholders.
"Decongestion is more of an expansive exercise and we don’t want it to be branded as a matatu issue. We want to bring taxis and boda bodas that are also operating within the central business district. Already we have the BRT buses which are with the Kenya Railways but as NMS, we shall look at all those options by the time we completely finish with terminus,” Ochieng added.
Green Park terminus is among six other termini that NMS has set up for Sh350 million that will officially be pick up and drop off points once matatus are barred from the CBD.
The others include Desai, Park road, Ladhies Muthurwa, Fig Tree terminus and Bunyala-Workshop road.
However, Green Park terminus which is estimated to have cost Sh250 million, is so far the biggest and will be the drop-off and pick-up point for matatus plying the Ngong and Lang’ata routes.
Once operational, the terminal will have capacity to accommodate 20,000 vehicles daily, 100 PSV per hour and 300 to 350 vehicles at any given time of the day.
Bunyala -Workshop road termini will be reserved for matatus plying Mombasa Road, South B, South C, Industrial Area, Imara Daima, Athi River, Kitengela and Machakos routes.
All matatus currently using Tea Room and Accra road plying the Thika Superhighway and long-distance matatus from Mt Kenya will move to Desai and Park Road termini in Ngara.
The terminus at Muthurwa-Ladhies will handle matatus from Jogoo and Lusaka roads.
-Edited by SKanyara