The first of the newly acquired Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) trains successfully completed its test trip on Mombasa – Nairobi rail section, Kenya Railways announced.
The train which consisted of two passenger locomotives and four coaches took slightly over 6 hours to complete the journey between the two cities.
“It is the first time the train is running on the section between Mtito Andei and Mombasa. The line has not been tested and also the communication between the train crew and the station is not seamless hence why we had to travel at 80 km/h and below in this section,” SGR Technical Advisor Solomon Ouna said.
The line, locomotive and rolling stock test marked the first time a train has traversed the entire SGR track. From Nairobi to Mtito Andei which is the midpoint of the 472 km stretch between Mombasa and Nairobi, the train travelled at speeds of between 100km/h and 125 km/h and arrived in Mtito Andei in 2 hours 5 minutes.
Besides testing of the locomotive, other aspects of the testing included functional testing of the air and braking systems, installed software for all systems, communication systems and empty and fully loaded weight verification.
In a related development, the Kenya Railways taken the delivery of 150 flat wagons to be used for freight transport during the operation stage of the Standard Gauge Railway line. This is the second batch of wagons delivered under the SGR line development in Kenya following delivery of 60 open wagons in February. The 25 tons axle flat wagons are suited for operations on the 1435 mm SGR line.
Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas K. Maina said that the flat wagons are used for general transport purposes and will be used for transport of all types of containers. They will also be used to transport large size cargo such as steel, automobiles, tractors and box-cargo. He further said that, three types of wagons have been ordered for operations on the SGR line- open-top wagons, covered wagons and flat wagons.
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