Kenya Railways Corporation is planning to upgrade all its operational commuter routes to help expand its operation and take care of growing transport needs in the city and the whole country.

The corporation plans to upgrade the rail road to standard gauge and refurbish its coaches to encourage passengers to board trains as opposed to matatus. Kenyans have generally had a bad perception of trains in Nairobi terming them 'untidy' and 'crowded', something the corporation says it has addressed with time.

Effective railway transport will help ease over reliance on public vehicle transport and a probable reduction in fares in the city. Matatus charge unstandardized fares making commuting one of the biggest budgeting problem for city dwellers. On average, a commuter will pay Fares of between Ksh. 100 and Ksh. 250 a day on a round trip depending on the weather, time of day and availability of functional PSVs.

Here is a map of the route KRC plans to upgrade, which is currently functional, with plans to develop new routes to other estates soon.

[caption id="attachment_9555" align="aligncenter" width="897" caption="Nairobi Commuter Train Map. (Image courtesy of Living in Nairobi)"][/caption]