Kenya Railways has increased rates by 50% across all routes in the country.
According to the most recent revision, a passenger traveling to Mombasa will now pay Sh1,500 beginning January 1, 2024, an increase from the current Sh1,000.
Tickets purchased before to that day, however, will be unaffected.
“Customers making advance purchases for the Madaraka Express Passenger Service will notice the adjusted fares as of November 1, 2023,” the management said.
For those who wish to travel with first class, they will have to pay Sh4,500, up from Sh3,000.
“This increase is informed by changes in that energy and petroleum sector where prices of fuel have significantly increased thus increasing the cost of operations,” Kenya Railways said.
Passengers will be charged Sh1,430 from Athi River to Mombasa; Emali to Mombasa will attract a fare of Sh1,100.
Fares from Kibwezi to Mombasa will cost Sh890 while Voi to Mombasa will be at Sh440.
Mtito Andei to Mombasa Sh750, Miasenyi to Mombasa Sh290, Mariakani to Mombasa Sh110.
The prices were reviewed upwards for the Madaraka Express Passenger Service, Madaraka Express Commuter Service, Nairobi Commuter Railway Service, Kisumu Safari Train and Nanyuki Safari Train.
Here are the price changes;
According to the Economic Survey 2022, passengers through SGR increased from 806,000 in 2020 to 1, 933,000 in 2021.
During the year, earnings from the Madaraka Express more than doubled to Sh2.2 billion from Sh896 million in 2020.
The Standard Gauge Railway train service has continued to move masses to the coast region, in what is seen as a preferred mode over road transport.
Many people opt to travel on the SGR because it also takes about six hours to arrive to Mombasa.
Children below three years are not charged any fee to take a ride on the train while those from 3-11 years pay half the price adults pay on the economy and first-class tickets.
Buses are averaging Sh1, 500 and Sh3,000 depending on the coach classes and companies.
Even with this, the completion of the second phase of Standard Gauge Railway has boosted passenger numbers to 1.9 million for the first nine months of the year, as it looks set to surpass 2022 numbers.
New data released by the SGR show that so far since the rail officially began operations in 2017 more than 11,155,000 passengers have been dispatched.
From June 2017 until June 11, this year Madaraka Express transported an astounding 10,335,919 passengers, covering approximately 7,358,241 kilometres.
The 592 km – track runs from Mombasa to Nairobi, before terminating in the Rift Valley town of Naivasha at Suswa.
