NAIROBI, Mar 19, 2026 — Kenya has restarted construction of the Naivasha‑Kisumu‑Malaba Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) extension, reviving a project stalled for nearly six years.
President William Ruto officially launched the project on Thursday, presiding over ground-breaking activities along the route. The extension comprises approximately 264 kilometres from Naivasha to Kisumu and a further 107 kilometres from Kisumu to Malaba, a critical border crossing with Uganda.
He framed the project as the continuation of a vision begun in 2014 to replace the 130‑year‑old colonial “Lunatic Express” with a modern rail network. “The first phase, from Mombasa to Naivasha, was initially dismissed as a ‘railway to nowhere’. But today, it stands vindicated as a backbone of our national transport system,” he said. “We are now advancing the next phase, extending the SGR from Naivasha to Kisumu and eventually to Malaba.”
The line will traverse nine counties and is designed for passenger trains at 120 kilometres per hour and freight trains at 80 kilometres per hour. Infrastructure features include 13 tunnels, 23 bridges, and 376 culverts, and the railway is expected to handle up to 22 million tonnes of cargo annually. The project will link the Port of Mombasa to Kisumu Port on Lake Victoria, creating a multimodal logistics chain for the Great Lakes region.
Construction is led by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) under government contracts. Officials confirmed contractors are already mobilised, undertaking early-stage works, including site preparation and engineering groundwork ahead of track laying.
