The Kenya Railways Corporation has embarked on plans to increase the number of coaches plying the Standard Gauge Railway route to Mombasa.
The changes are said to be necessitated by a sudden spike in passenger demands to and from the Coast region.
“Over the past few days, we have experienced an unprecedented surge in demand for the Madaraka Express Passenger Service,” reads a statement.
In the statement dated November 6, KRC revealed that the changes had already been implemented.
KRC explained that the change was necessitated by a sudden spike in passenger demands to and from the Coast region.
“We have therefore increased the number of coaches on the trains plying this route, effective this afternoon, to and from Nairobi,” the statement reads.
The changes come amid a pilot strike from the Kenya Airways airline.
KQ CEO Allan Kilavuka in a passionate plea has called on the pilots to call off their strike as the paralysis at the airways is a doubled aged sword affecting both the airline and the pilots.
Kilavuka said the striking workers may be forced to go without salary as the company is losing Sh300million daily from the strike
“All I know is that pilots are KQ employees before they are members of the Kenya Airline Pilots Association. We are losing Sh300million every day, if this continues we may not be able to pay salaries this month,” he said.
As part of negotiations to end the strike, the KQ boss has also demanded that KALPA ensures that its staffers are back to work saying the ongoing industrial action is illegal and in contravention of a court order.
The airline is also demanding that the Union limits its negotiation to the Collecting Bargaining Agreement signed between them.
However, the strike is still ongoing.
