New Details Emerge On Nairobi’s First Underground 30KM Rail Line
President William Ruto has provided fresh details on the government’s ambitious Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transport System (NMRTS).
Ruto revealed that the first phase will feature a 30-kilometre underground railway line linking Eastlands to the Central Business District (CBD) through 25 stations.
In a statement on Friday, July 31, after receiving a progress briefing at State House, Nairobi, Ruto said the Nairobi City County Government had already granted the necessary approvals for the first phase of the project.
According to the President, the underground railway will connect densely populated parts of Eastlands with the CBD as part of a wider plan to tackle chronic traffic congestion in the capital.
“Our plan for the Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transport System is the perfect solution to the traffic congestion and gridlock that face our capital city and the environs,” Ruto stated.
He added that the underground railway will mark the beginning of a wider multi-modal transport system that will also incorporate Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and commuter rail services.
According to Ruto, the integrated transport network is expected to serve nearly five million Nairobi residents who collectively make more than 12 million trips every day.
The President made the remarks after Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja briefed him on the progress of the project at State House, alongside officials from the Ministry of Transport and Nairobi County.
The latest update comes barely a week after Sakaja disclosed that the first phase of the underground railway would cost an estimated Ksh1 trillion, making it one of the country’s most expensive infrastructure projects.
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The governor said the project had already received Cabinet approval and would be financed through a mix of national government funding, pension funds and transport-orientated development initiatives, including land value capture around transport corridors.
According to Sakaja, the national government is expected to contribute about Ksh388 billion towards the first phase, with the remaining funds expected from other financing partners and investment models.
The underground railway project is also expected to revive transport proposals that have existed for decades.
The proposals were first recommended in Nairobi’s 1948 Master Plan before being incorporated into the 1972 Nairobi Metropolitan Growth Strategy and the 2014 Nairobi Urban Integrated Development Plan, but never implemented.
Once completed, the first phase of the Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transport System is expected to become Kenya’s first underground railway.
It will form the backbone of an integrated public transport network aimed at easing congestion, reducing travel times and supporting the city’s long-term growth.
New Details Emerge On Nairobi’s First Underground 30KM Rail Line
