Kenya Railways have announced the introduction of second on the Madaraka Express as from 1st November. The afternoon train will leave both Mombasa and Nairobi termini at 3.30pm and will not have any stop-overs along the way.
Currently, Madaraka Express operates only trip which departs from both Nairobi and Mombasa termini at 9am and arrives at about 2pm, with seven stops at intermediate stations along the route.
The additional trip, according to Kenya Railways MD, Atnas Maina, is in response to passenger demand for more options on the train schedule. It seems, however, that KR is selective in its hearing of passengers’ demands as an online booking and payment platform is still unavailable, despite it being the most immediate need. A band-aid solution in the form of the a USSD platform to help passengers book tickets remotely was introduced last month, but it most certainly will not boost the efficiency of Madaraka Express ticketing in the long run.