A new report that was released by the National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed that the number of passengers using the Madaraka Express train has increased significantly.

According to KNBS findings of an economic survey, the number of passengers on the Madaraka Express train increased from  806,000 in 2020 to 1,993,000 in 2021.

The report also revealed the revenue collected from cargo haulage on the SGR rose by 24 per cent from Sh 10.5billion to Sh13 billion.

Passenger traffic has increased beyond the double mark to Sh2.2 billion, which brings the total revenue collected from the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Sh15.2 billion.

KNBS attributed the increase in passengers and revenue to the easing of the Covid-19 containment measures.

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“The increase in passenger traffic and revenue was buoyed by easing of COVID-19 measures relating to mobility coupled with the introduction of additional passenger train for night travel,” the report read.

The report also said the revenue collected from the Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) passenger service also increased from Sh83 billion in 2020 to Sh234 billion.

Likewise, the revenue netted from cargo transited on the MGR increased to Sh1,118 million from Sh1,114 million.

Apart from the easing of the Covid-19 restrictions, the continued revamping of the Nairobi Commuter Rail (NCR) services and the introduction of new routes also contributed to the upsurge.

“The upsurge was mainly attributed to easing of COVID-19 containment measures in the country, continued revamping of Nairobi Commuter Rail (NCR) services through the full operationalisation of 11 Diesel Multiple Units (DMU), and the introduction of new routes to Limuru and Lukenya,” the report read.

The re-introduction of the Nairobi-Kisumu Safari train also partly contributed to the new upsurge in revenue collections by MGR passenger service.

The KNBS report also noted under the same period under review, the volume of cargo transported on the MGR dropped to 644,000 tones from 625,000 tonnes.

KNBS attributed the decline to reduced volumes of imported steel which makes it among the commodities chiefly transported by the MGR.

However, there was a small increase in revenue from the MGR cargo stream from Sh1,114 million in 2020 to Sh1,118 million in 2021 partly because of the ferrying of high-value cargo.

The freight shipping on the SGR increased to 5,407 thousand tonnes in 2021 up from 4,411 thousand tonnes, which represents a 22.6 per cent increase.