SGR Fares Go Up- Kenya Railways Announces

The Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) has announced that starting January 1, 2024, Kenyans using the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) for their trips between Nairobi and Mombasa will have to pay more for tickets.

In a notice, Kenya Railways revealed that the upward price review will affect five rail transport services such as the Madaraka Express Passenger Service and Madaraka Express Commuter Service.

Other services affected include the Nairobi Commuter Rail Service, Kisumu Safari Train and Nanyuki Safari Train.

"This increase is informed by changes in the energy and petroleum sector where prices of fuel have significantly increased thus affecting the cost of our operations," KRC explained the reason for the price increase.

"The new fares come into effect on January 1, 2024. Customers making advance purchases for the Madaraka Express Passenger Service will notice the adjusted fares as of November 1, 2023, to take into account the advance ticket purchasing window of 60 days."

A full trip from Nairobi to Mombasa in the first-class category will now cost Ksh4,500, up from an average of Ksh3,000.

The same trip in economy class will see commuters pay an extra Ksh500, up from Ksh1,000.

The new charges for Kenya Railways can be found in the schedule below:

A photo showing the revised charges by Kenya Railways. /KENYA RAILWAYS

Earlier this year, KRC scrapped the cash payment method for passengers to purchase their tickets beginning February 1, 2023.

In a statement, KRC advised its customers to use alternative methods to purchase their SGR tickets.

"We wish to notify our customers and the general public that effective 1st February 2023, we will no longer be accepting cash for the purchase of tickets at all Madaraka Express passenger service stations. 

"Customers are therefore advised to use mobile money or debit/Credit cards at all points of service," part of the statement read.

Alternatively, Kenya Railways announced that individual or group bookings can be done through the USSD code *639# or by visiting the website https://metickets.krc.co.ke