Managing Director Nduva Muli told the media here that the Corporation had alread y called for a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Transaction Adviser for the work, through an international tender advertisement.
According to the official, priority on the proposed construction would be the up grading of the existing Mombasa-Nairobi-Kisumu-Malaba (on the Kenya Uganda border) railway line. The other includes the proposed Lamu- Juba and Nairobi-Addis Ababa railway lines, the plan for which construction are at an advanced stage.
The new railway line, the official added, will meet increased transport demands that are projected to be in excess of 30 million tonnes by the year 2030, against the current 17 million tonnes through the Mombasa Port.
Freight volumes have grown beyond previous projections and already outstripped available transport capacity - both road and rail - causing perennial congestion at the Mombasa Port, Muli said, adding that with a projected freight growth of 8% annually, the situation was bound to get worse.
The current 100-year-old Meter Gauge railway line has limited capacity and cannot cope with the increased demand, he conceded..
The new railway will be a high capacity Standard Gauge railway with freight trains hauling a minimum of 4,000 tonnes - on over 1 km long trains - compared to the 800 tonnes on the Meter Gauge railway.
When completed, freight trains will be operating at an average speed of 120 kilometres per hour, and passenger trains at an average speed of 160 kilometres per hour
Current operating speeds on the metre gauge railway are between 30 and 45 per hour at best.
Transportation costs in Kenya and the East Africa region constitute 40-45% of the total cost of production, against a global average of 15%, which makes local products uncompetitive in the global markets.
In India and China for example, railway transport accounts for 90% of the long distance freight movement, compared with Kenya where a meagre 5% is transported by railway, causing pressure on the road network.
Nairobi - 23/11/2009
Pana
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