Transit of containers weighing over 28 tons by road will be prohibited. Instead, such cargo will be required to be transported over rail, which has only been carrying about 4% of its original design capacity due to its deteriorated state. Transport Permanent Secretary Cyrus Njiru says the policy should take effect in a matter of days in order to cut over-dependence on roads. “Before the end of the July, the ministry of transport will have gazetted rules that will direct all container cargo over 28 tons to be transported by rail,” Njiru told Capital Business. .
“We cannot continue destroying our roads. Trucks are used at the last point between the container depot and the factory and even for that section they should not be over 28 tons. We have asked RVR (Rift Valley Railways) to triple its carrying capacity,” he added.
Container traffic at the Mombasa Port showed a 23.9% increase, from 369,667 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2011 to 458,116 TEU in 2012. The existing container terminal at the port was designed to handle a throughput of 250,000 TEUs per annum, through three berths that handle a total of 695,000 TEUs as at 2010, thus its overload. However, Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Gichiri Ndua says by March 2016, construction of a second container terminal will be completed.
Meanwhile, designs for the standard gauge railway line from Mombasa to Nairobi are complete. This will pave way for the first half of the extended line construction from the Mombasa port to Kampala.
Rehabilitation of the existing line between Mombasa and Nairobi is underway, while ground breaking of the new line project which is currently under the tendering process is expected by the end of the year.