NAIROBI, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) has transported over 150,000 passengers between Mombasa and Nairobi since it was commissioned on May 31, officials said on Thursday.
Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas Maina told a media briefing in Nairobi that the train dubbed Madaraka Express was meant to run on a trial basis for a few months but has received overwhelming response from the traveling public.
"As a result, we will review the passenger numbers so as to increase the frequency of trains and number of locomotives in order to meet the growing demand," Maina said.
Kenya Railways currently operates one daily service from Nairobi to Mombasa and another from Mombasa to Nairobi.
The 480 km SGR which cost 3.6 billion U.S. dollars was 90 percent financed by China, with the rest of the funding coming from the Kenyan government.
Maina said that the operations of the SGR are set to improve the overall efficiency of human and freight transport along the Northern Corridor.
He noted that the modern high capacity train will carry up to 1 million passengers per annum after two years of operation.
"This figure will rise to 1.5 million passengers per year by the third year of operations," he added. Official freight operations on the SGR will begin in December 2017.
Maina said that beginning Aug. 1, they will introduce a county train service that shall introduce stops at Mtito Andei and Voi.
In order to enhance customer experience, Kenya Railways also plans to introduce an online ticketing platform.
