Revenue generated from the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) grew 15.8 percent to Sh15.44 billion in the year ended December, driven by increased imports and passenger travel.
The latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that revenues rose from Sh13.33 billion in 2020.
Revenue from passenger services between Mombasa and Nairobi hit Sh2.2 billion, more than double the Sh896 million realised the previous year. The higher revenues were driven by a sharp jump in the number of passengers who used the fast train service, growing to 1,996,434 travellers up from 811,552 in the previous year.
The SGR’s passenger revenues were hit by a two-month suspension of travel in 2020 after the Covid-19 virus was announced in the country in March of that year.
December saw the SGR ferry the largest number of passengers last year as travellers shuttled between the two cities for the Christmas festivities.
Trains carried 242,827 passengers in December, the most during any month since the train service was launched, surpassing the high of 223,106 travellers in July last year.
The SGR also ferried 5.4 million tonnes of cargo last year, up from 4.4 million tonnes in the previous year. This saw its cargo revenue also shoot up to Sh13.2 billion from Sh12.4 billion. BY DAILY NATION