One of the two trains carrying 1,500 passengers heading to Nairobi from Nanyuki temporarily stalled on Sunday at Ruthagati in Nyeri County and later at Kakuzi in Thika, Kiambu County. 

The passenger train, which had left Nanyuki at 10am developed technical issues that many linked to the heavy load of passengers it was carrying and the challenging topography of the area.

The first mechanical problem at Ruthagati was resolved by the Kenya Railways (KR) crew on board and the train was back on track after a half-hour delay only to experience another hitch past 5pm ahead.

However, after about one hour of resuming the journey the train stalled again to the chagrin of the now weary passengers eager to get to their destination Nairobi to connect by road home after festivities upcountry.

This comes after KR on Sunday announced it would double the number of passenger trains from Nanyuki to Nairobi to accommodate the high demand for the service on the busy route.

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Kenya Railways is charging each passenger Sh200 for the trip to Nairobi as the train attracted a high number of commuters hence being forced to accommodate way beyond its capacity.

The stalling of the train and the passengers is proving to be an embarassment and true test for Kenya Railways in its bid to revive commuter train transport in Nairobi and the Nanyuki route to ease pressure on Kenyan roads.