The government of Kenya has refurbished the Railways Training Institute (RTI) ahead of the planned takeover of SGR operations by Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC). According to Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary (CS) James Macharia, the institute would enable the government to cater to a large number of Kenyans who want to work in the railway industry.
“We have new infrastructure within RTI that will be used to upgrade the skills of both SGR and metre gauge railway staff. There is no need for an SGR if we do not create opportunities for Kenyans,” he said during a tour of the refurbished institute. “We have the brick and mortar but if you do not train the people, then you cannot have a successful transfer of technology from the Chinese to Kenyans,” added the CS.
The Railways Training Institute now has the capacity to train up to 800 Kenyans using the same standards used to train the SGR Kenyan staff who undertook a training exercise in China. The institute has been upgraded at a cost of about US $9.1m and it now includes modern laboratories and technical workshops that will be crucial in training the people who will handle the SGR operations.
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Kenya SGR operations takeover
Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) recently announced that it has begun the process of taking over the operations of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from the Chinese operator Afristar. According to Kenya Railways Chairman Omudho Awitta, the corporation has already assumed ticketing, security and fuelling functions of the Standard Gauge Railways (SGR)
“We have negotiated with the contractor so that we take over the running of the standard gauge railway. The first phase has started, we have taken over the security, ticketing and fueling of the trains. These phases will go on smoothly up to May 2022 when we take overall operations,” said Awitta. He further added that instead of the 10 years, they are taking over in five years. “We are prepared for it and we are ready to go,” said the chairman.
