The government will form a Railways Regulatory Authority and strengthen the Railway Training Institute in readiness for the entry of private entities into the railways business if the proposed Railways Bill 2024 becomes law.
The Bill, which is the subject of public participation across the country, proposes the removal of the monopoly currently being enjoyed by the Kenya Railways by including private sector players in the running of the railways sub-sector.
Kenya Railways head o railway safety Jonathan Kilelo said the new authority will be responsible for regulating the running of railways and trains through the issuance of operating licenses to qualified individuals and entities.
“This means that private companies will be allowed to buy their own trains and be issued with licenses by the Railway Regulatory Authority which is being proposed in this Bill. The authority will also be responsible for the enforcement of standards required for the running of railway services in the country,” he said.
Kilelo who was speaking at the Nidhamia Hall in Malindi town during a public participation session on the Bill for stakeholders drawn from Kilifi, Lamu and Tana River Counties, said licensed companies would have open access to the existing railway infrastructure as well as be allowed to build their own railway lines.
“Within the working timetables, they will be given time when their railways will be able to use the railway lines. Private companies will also be allowed to build their own railways from the existing railway stations to their business premises to allow their goods to reach their final destinations within their factories or mining centres,” he said.
This would complement the public sector investment in the railway sub-sector which has already been put in place, he said adding that private companies would pay to use the existing lines.
The strengthening of the RTI is anticipated to enable the railway sub-sector to get skilled human resource to run the railway services for the new entrants into the sub-sector.
“The Bill also proposes the strengthening of the Railway Training Institute so that the skills that are required to support the sector can be developed to ensure that as the private sector entities come to operate railway services, they can get workers who have the requisite skills,” he said.
The skills acquired at the institute include mechanical engineering works, infrastructure maintenance, signaling and telecommunication skills, freight management and logistics, train ticketing and customer care services as well as catering and hospitality services.
Members of the public who attended the session welcomed the new bill but proposed amendments that they said would improve the sector and make it more efficient.
They called for the removal of a requirement in the Bill that private individuals wishing to be engage in railway services must have five years’ experience working within railways saying this would lock out potential investors who have never worked at the Kenya Railways, which has all along been a monopoly.
Tomicky Randu, a retired telecommunications engineer, proposed the introduction of electric and underground trains in the country, which he said would make the movement of people and goods faster than it is currently using the old and standard gauge railway networks.
“We want our railway lines to be modernized like in other countries, which use electric and underground trains to transport people and goods,” he stated.
