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SGR passenger ticket sales hit record Sh2bn in six months
Passengers using the afternoon SGR train arrive at the Mombasa Terminus for security screening before they board the train to Nairobi on December 19, 2017.
Passenger ticket sales on the standard gauge railway (SGR) crossed a record Sh2 billion mark in the first half of the year, largely helped by a rebound in traffic and doubling of fares.
Records show that passenger ticket sales on the SGR trains commonly known as Madaraka Express raked in Sh2.068 billion in the six months to June 2025, representing a rise of 11.65 percent from the Sh1.85 billion realised over a similar period last year.
The record sales coincided with a rebound in traffic as 1.18 million passengers used the trains, shaking off a slump recorded in the first half of last year after SGR increased fares on all routes from Nairobi to Mombasa.
SGR doubled fares from January 1,2024, with first class tickets from Nairobi to Mombasa jumping to Sh4,500 from Sh3,000 while those for economy class rose to Sh1,500 from Sh1,000 for the same distance.
Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) cited growing fuel costs as a major reason behind the new fares for both the express and inter-county routes, even as the move drew uproar from Kenyans and triggered a fall in traffic.
Passenger traffic in the first half of last year dipped 9.6 percent to 1.12 million from 1.24 million in the same period of 2023, signaling the impact of the higher fares.
Higher fares were seen as a major reason to push passengers back to the road whose fares are lower compared to the new ones set by the SGR.
The recovery in ticket sales is a major boost to KRC’s efforts to ensure the train can cover a bigger portion of its operational costs without relying on the Exchequer for bailouts.
KRC has in the past turned to the Treasury for billions of shillings to fund operational costs that include paying Africa Star Railway Operation Company Limited, the Chinese firm that has been operating the trains since 2017.
Besides footing operational costs, passenger and cargo trains have not been able to make enough money to repay the multi-billion shilling loans tapped from China to fund the project.
The resurgence in passenger numbers aboard the SGR comes in a period when the train is set to be extended from Naivasha to the border town of Malaba.
Kenya will heavily rely on China for funding of the $5 billion (Sh645.8 billion) extension of the SGR from Naivasha to ensure a seamless rail connection between Kenya and Uganda and boost movement of goods and people between the two countries.
