The first 120 of 480 heavy-duty railway wagons purchased by the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) have arrived in Mombasa. The wagons are expected to increase the company’s haulage capacity by 50%. Each of the wagons has the capacity to transport 60 tons per trip meaning RVR will significantly increase on its current 40 ton load capacity per wagon.
Announcing the development at the commissioning ceremony in Mombasa, Carlos de Andrade the RVR Group CEO said, “In the past we have been limited as regards the volume of freight we are able to move because of the size and quality of the wagons we inherited, many of which were built more than 30 years ago. For the first time since we took over the concession, RVR will be deploying wagons that are purpose built for modern rail transport operations, both in terms of capacity and their condition.”
He continued explained the new wagons are a lot more cost effective per trip. This means the company will be able to reduce freight charges considerably and become a lot more competitive than the roads which are already overburdened with traffic.
“We are confident once the new railway wagons are put into service along with the 20 GE locomotives that recently arrived, we will able to increase the volume of business we are handling. Eventually this will allow us to fully utilize the newly opened inland container port in Mukono which has the capacity to handle 1,644 units at any time and 36,500 containers a year and is expected to play a major role in our business growth,” he added.
Speaking about the impact the new railway wagons are expected to have on transport and infrastructure on the northern corridor, RVR General Manager, Concession & External Communications, Sammy Gachuhi said, “The additional capacity means the railway is now positioned to even surpass the impressive freight volumes numbers achieved last year. As at 31st January this year, we had moved over 1.8 million Net Ton Kilometers (NTK) of freight against a target of 1.7 million by 31st March in Kenya. The corresponding figures for Uganda were 250 million NTK of freight moved as at 25th February against a target of 250 million by March.”
RVR is currently at the midpoint of a US$ 287 million capital expenditure program that began in January 2012 to revitalize the railway. Since the start of the renewal program, RVR has invested US$ 126 million in modern rail operating technology, rebuilding infrastructure, expanding haulage capacity and developing modern rail operating skills in its 2,400 strong workforce.
The company has also completed the rehabilitation of the most damaged sections of the railway track between Mombasa and Nairobi and rehabilitated and reopened the 500 kilometer railway from Tororo to Gulu in northern Uganda after a 20-year hiatus. Installation of satellite tracking and GPS-based technology on all trains helped cut cargo transit times between Mombasa and Nairobi by six hours.
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