Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) boost as Kenya Railways starts cattle wagons
KR has started transportation of livestock on the recently upgraded Nanyuki-Nairobi metre gauge line,
coming as a boost to Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) that reopened Monday after closure for refurbishment last
year.
The first batch of animals from Nanyuki arrived at the KMC facility Monday with the KR terming the
move as a milestone that will go a long way in supporting the pastoral community.
The cattle wagon, said KR, is to carry at least 30 animals on a given trip. It did not reveal the
number of wagons that it will use in a day.
However, “Cattle wagon train carrying cattle today (yesterday) makes its official trip from Nanyuki Railway Station to Nairobi’s
Kenya Meat Commission depot,” said the corporation yesterday.
Cattle transport has mainly been by use of trucks from the pastoral communities in northern Kenya.
President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday officiated the reopening of the KMC, coinciding with the first batch of animals
which the delivery also occurs using train.
The facility is at the moment being run by Kenya Army after it was moved to the department of defence last year
from livestock.
The Latest Development
The latest development comes at a time when Kenya intends to use the Nanyuki metre gauge railway to transport
cargo to Ethiopia as it targets growing industrial activities at the border.
KR has spend billions of shillings on rehabilitating decades-old lines to boost the use of rail for cargo
and passenger travel.
However, It injected Sh1.2 billion out of Sh3 billion that was handed down to revamp the Nairobi-Nanyuki line, with the rest coming
from Kenya Pipeline Corporation through the Treasury as special dividends.
Cargo operations on the rehabilitated 240-kilometre Nairobi-Nanyuki started in August last year and targets goods
like fuel, fertilisers, hardware, cereals and other farm produce.
Therefore, the railway is to increase economic activities in northern and Mt Kenya regions.
By Cynthia N.
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