Kenya Imports 11 Second-Hand Diesel Trains from Spain

11 second-hand diesel commuter trains procured from Spain at a negotiated price of Sh1.15 billion are set to arrive in Kenya mid next month.

Trucks carrying the refurbished Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) left the city of Mallorca for Barcelona on Thursday, from where they will be shipped to Mombasa.

Housing and Urban Planning Principal Secretary Charles Hinga shared on Twitter photos of the locomotives being loaded onto trucks in Spain.

The agreement for the purchase of the DMUs was signed in March this year by Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga and officials from Regional Ministry of Energy and Mobility in Mallorca.

The acquisition of the trains is part of the government’s plan to decongest Nairobi city by increasing the number of train commuter users from the current 300,000 to three million a month.

Kenya Railways said the diesel units manufactured by Spain's Construcciones and Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) between 1994 and 2003 have a lifespan of between 23 and 25 years.

Nine railway stations have been built at Kenyatta University, Umoja, Kibera, Thogoto, Mbagathi Way, Kitengela, Dagoretti and Strathmore University ahead of the arrival of the Spain-made trains.