The Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) is to take over running the country’s new Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway from the Chinese company Africa Star (Afristar) by the end of the year, local website Business Daily reports.

KRC had contracted Afristar, a subsidiary of China Road and Bridge Corporation, to manage the line for 10 years in 2017. Afristar is still responsible for ticketing and revenue collection while KRC handles marketing.

Announcing the move, KRC managing director Philip Mainga said that 98% of the jobs on the line are done by Kenyans and that the line was contributing 3% to Kenya’s GDP, dismissing reports that the line was not generating revenue for the government.

“We ferry over 30,000 people every day and deliver tonnes of cargo from the port of Mombasa to Nairobi within eight hours. We no longer have congestion at the port,” he told a press conference.

In July 2024, KRC launched higher-end coach options with a one-way ticket between Nairobi and Mombasa priced at about $100.