Gov't Approves Construction of Sh4.1 Billion Cable Car in Mombasa

The government has approved the construction of Sh4.1 billion cable car to ferry people between Mombasa Island and the mainland.

The project being undertaken jointly by a Kenyan and an Austrian company was okayed during a Cabinet meeting held at State House this week.

The cable car project is expected to ease movement of passengers between the route. The investors will charge commuters a fee for 25 years before surrendering the investment to the government.

The cable cars will take two minutes to cross the 500-metre Likoni Channel up from 10 minutes currently taken by a ferry. The cable cars will also be able to ferry about 11,000 passengers per hour. 

“Cabinet approved a privately initiated investment proposal to develop a cable car system to address the human traffic challenges across the Likoni Channel,” read the communication from Cabinet.

"The project is expected to cost about Sh4.1 billion and will be implemented as a 25 years Build-Own-Operate-Transfer.”

The express link will have 22 cable cars, each with a capacity of 38 passengers and will carry a total of 180,000 people per day. More than 300,000 people and 6,000 vehicles reportedly use the channel daily.

The link will be constructed by C&C Construction Company and will make Kenya the third African country to operate cable cars after Nigeria and South Africa.

Currently, four ferries namely MV Jambo, MV Likoni, MV Harambee, and MV Nyayo are used to carry people across the channel.