Passengers left stranded after Nairobi-Kisumu commuter train stalls

Passengers were left stranded on Tuesday evening after the recently relaunched Nairobi-Kisumu commuter train stalled.

Kenya Railways attributed the derailment of the scheduled passenger train service at the Tamu area in Muhoroni Kisumu County to heavy rains in the areas.

Passengers were kept waiting for four hours as the train operator worked to fix the mishap that was reported at 6 pm after one of its wagons derailed as it negotiated a corner.

Muhoroni OCPD Zephaniah Kamuren confirmed that one of the train’s wagon derailed and Kenya railways engineers were heading to the scene.

He termed the incident as minor, saying the raised ballast caused the wagon to derail.

It was reported that by 8 pm the engineers arrived and by 9.30 pm the train was back on track.

212 passengers were on board.

The commuters are charged Sh600 on the second class coaches and Sh2,000 for first class from Nairobi to Kisumu in the 12-hour journey

Kenya Railways launched the passenger service on Friday, December 17, ending a decade-long suspension of operations of the century old meter gauge.