KENYA: SGR Madaraka Express Train, How To Get On It.

The SGR, Standard Gauge Railway is a railway line that connects two major cities in Kenya that is Nairobi and Mombasa. It is operated by the Kenya Railways Corporation and there are two trains that run making two round-trips a day. The two SGR trains include the Madaraka Express and the inter-county train.

Like its name, the Madaraka Express does not make a stop during the course of the journey and takes 5 hours to reach its destination. The inter-county passenger train, on the other hand, makes a stop at respective stations including Athi River, Email, Kibwezi, Mtito Andei, Miasenyi and Mariakani county stations.

The train takes 5 hours 55 minutes to reach its destination and if you would like to see the exact schedule, click here to find out more on arrival and departure times, between Mombasa and Nairobi and vice versa.

When it comes to booking, there are three options.

- Either going to the station of departure and booking manually,

- Booking online through the website or

- Dialling the USSD code (*639#) and following the prompts. This service is available 24/7 and you can buy a maximum of 5 tickets in one transaction. You can book 7 days in advance and a return ticket as long as it is within 7 days window period.

The advance ticket-booking window is 30 days, your options depending on availability. You can book the train 30 days to the date of travel, any day in between the 30th day and the date of travel or on the date of travel itself. For group bookings, use these contacts to make your reservation. You can also opt to visit the respective terminus any day between 6.30 AM to 4.00 PM.

After you have received confirmation (a text/email with a unique code pertaining to your booking), pay for your ticket through Mpesa. Similar rates apply if you are purchasing the ticket over the counter. In this case, you will find the pay bill number in use at the station, to facilitate your purchase.

After completing the purchase, you will get an Mpesa confirmation and account number. This information will be useful when printing out your ticket at the terminus on the day of travel or any day at your convenience.

For international travellers with no Mpesa here’s a Kenyan alternative method you can use to buy a ticket.

Below are the rates for the tickets depending on the coach type you prefer and the age of the traveller.

On the day of departure, it is recommended you arrive at the terminus an hour before your departure time to avoid missing the train due to delays at the security check.

In Nairobi, the main terminus is at Syokimau while in Mombasa its at Miritini.

Take note of these ticketing terms and conditions to avoid any possible delays at the terminus.

However, in case you miss a train you are entitled to 80% of your ticket fee as refund only if you had alerted the train attendants before the train left.

Note that refunds are not issued after the journey has commenced or if the ticket is lost/damaged. You are also required to keep your ticket safely throughout the journey for it serves as your only proof of the right to be in that particular train.

The SGR train hosts 1260 passengers with cabin crew services and other essentials like comfortable seats, and a place to charge your phone for first class travellers. It is currently the only direct train that ferries passengers between Nairobi and Mombasa.

When it comes to travelling Here’s what you need to know when you’re travelling with a big family.

Travelling with a big family can be its own version of hell if not handled well. Coming from a big family myself, I know that even something as simple as getting ready to get to church takes hours of preparation ( and we rarely get there on time).

So what should you do when you want to take the family on a road trip?

Leaving things until the last minute is asking for disaster when it comes to a large family. You should start planning for your trip at least a week in advance.

That gives you time to sort out everyone’s clothes, find missing shoes trust me, there are always missing shoes, sort out any disputes about who gets to wear what and divide up the responsibilities.

The ideal setup is that you are all set to go two days before the actual event. Know exactly where you’re going and have an itemized itinerary, whenever possible, during the trip to avoid nasty surprises on the way and to make the best use of your time.

It may seem obvious, but this is a step that is sometimes overlooked when one family member feels like they can shoulder the whole burden.

It is best to get everyone in the family involved in planning the trip from start to finish as each member will feel a personal responsibility to make sure that the trip is a success. This is also the best way to find out what everyone thinks or if anyone is opposed to going for the trip.

Even if you’re guaranteed food when you get there, always have some edibles and water with you for the trip.

It could be each person favourite snack but stay away from fatty foods as these may trigger motion sickness. Always ensure you have antacids and sweets, just in case. Health: Things to consider before you travel

Road trips can be fun, but when you’re in a big family they can also get loud and annoying. Playing simple games helps keep everyone distracted and the younger children from asking the dreaded, Are we there yet?

Things may not always go according to plan but always make sure you have a camera to help you remember and keep the memories. Travel: 18 Tips For Taking Great Holiday Photos

Don’t leave anyone behind, speaking from experience, and also from watching Home Alone movies, I know how easy it can be to lose count and leave one or two family members behind.

Establish a buddy system within the family so that everyone is looking out for someone and it will be easy to keep track of everything.

It may be crazy trying to keep everyone busy and on the same page, but make having fun a priority.

With a large family, a road trip is a perfect opportunity to create new family memories and rediscover all the beautiful and fun things you love about each other.


Tourism Observer

KENYA: Longest 19 Hour Traffic Jam

Kenyan police are trying to ease a traffic jam reportedly stretching for 50km (30 miles) on the highway between the port of Mombasa and the capital, Nairobi.

The road is not only crucial for Kenya, but also the region, as it links the port to East Africa's landlocked countries.

The worst-affected area is around Taru, about 80km from Mombasa.

Travellers say the jam has been caused by repairs to the road following heavy rains.

Hundreds of travellers were left stranded in a 19-hour traffic jam that crippled transport on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.

The gridlock, which lasted from Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon, was caused by unfinished work on a road diversion in Taru and a heavy downpour that rendered the muddy stretch impassable.

A large number of buses, trucks, tour vans and other private vehicles were trapped in the jam that stretched from Maji ya Chumvi in Kwale County to Maungu in Taita-Taveta County, as the travellers waited for any form of intervention to enable them to resume their journey.

Some of the motorists opted to use alternative routes, including passages cleared for use by contractors building the standard gauge railway.

The motorists and travellers accused the road contractor of taking too long to complete the stretch.

Parents, accompanied by their children, agonised the most as they sought to make the young ones comfortable in the face of biting hunger and thirst.

Shops located between Mariakani and Maungu towns on the busy highway ran out of food after the stranded travellers bought all the stock.

“We have sold out all foodstuffs and soft drinks. All loaves of bread, biscuits, water, soda and anything edible is finished.

“The sad part is that we cannot get (more supplies) as the road is totally clogged up for the last 19 hours,” said Mr Michael Mwangadu, a shopkeeper at the Msufi trading centre, near Taru.

Vegetable transporters were forced to cook and feed on part of their merchandise after hunger pangs became unbearable.

A truck driver, who was transporting vegetables from Taveta to Kongowea Market in Mombasa, said he had to offload some of the vegetables and cook at the Mailikubwa trading centre.

He shared it with the other hungry travellers.

Buses from Kampala, Busia, Nairobi and other upcountry towns too got stuck at the Taru stretch, with the first bus that left Nairobi at 5pm on Tuesday arriving in Mombasa at noon Wednesday.

A traveller said “I left Mombasa at 9.30pm yesterday. I am only at Taru, 60 kilometres away.”

“Things are very bad. Traffic is not moving.”

Another traveller said he left Nairobi at 5pm on Tuesday. He was in the first bus that arrived in Mombasa at noon Wednesday after staying in the jam for 17 hours.

Traffic jams have recently become a common occurrence between Mariakani and Bachuma Gate, a stretch of about 50 kilometres.

Coast regional traffic police commandant Martin Kariuki said he had mobilised a contingent of traffic officers from Voi, Mackinnon Road, Taru, Samburu and Mariakani to deal with the situation.

“I am here with enough officers trying to direct vehicles but it’s hard because it has rained and the diversion is muddy,” said Mr Kariuki.

Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) Chief Executive Officer Wellington Kiverenge said the jam had caused massive losses to transporters and travellers.

“The jam is a major blow to transport business in the entire northern corridor. It has affected not only Kenya but the whole eastern Africa region,” he said.

Kenya National Highways Authority official Charles Njogu said engineers were expected at the site to deal with the problem.

Ongoing problems with the ferry services across the Likoni channel from Mombasa island to the southern mainland and massive traffic jams on the Nairobi to Mombasa highway outside Kenya’s port city have once again prompted key tourism stakeholders to issue sharp protests to the government.

While Mombasa County Governor Hassan Ali Joho repeated his demand for a bridge to be constructed to ease the daily struggle of commuters to get into and out of Mombasa is this project, if at all it materializes, still years away. Meanwhile, thankfully, is construction ongoing to link the international airport and the Nairobi to Mombasa highway to the south coast with a bypass via Dongo Kundu, now finally under construction but not ready for at least two more years.

‘The Governor is right, something must be done for commuters in and out of Mombasa. The Dongo Kundu bypass is for traffic from the airport to the south coast or from Nairobi but those who have to get into the city from the southern mainland, they have no option but to cross the channel. The ferries are notoriously unreliable and frankly speaking a disaster waiting to happen.

They should start by firing the top managers who just talk hot air. We in Mombasa are fed up that Nairobi should get so many bypasses and highways and we at the coast remain neglected. It has been like this for decades, no second bridge across to the northern mainland, no convention centre, no this and no that. Tourism at the south coast has suffered very much from such shortcomings and now they even destroy the beaches there with sand dredging.

It is as if those bigwigs in Nairobi are hell bent to destroy the coast’s main economic activity. It the government wonders why they keep losing elections at the coast, that is a place to start looking’ ranted a regular source from Mombasa when venting his frustration over these ongoing problems.

Traffic into Mombasa started to grind to a standstill on Tuesday when work carried out by contractors for the Kenya National Highway Authority first slowed down a growing number of trucks, busses, saloon cars and safari vehicles before torrential rains turned the hastily opened dirt road bypass into a mud quagmire in which one vehicle after another got stuck.

Social media messages showed desperate appeals from passengers to be rescued as they ran out of food and water while the few shops along this stretch of road, with prices for essential items reportedly rising by the hour, eventually closed after selling out what they had in stock.

Mohammed Hersi, Chairman of the Kenya Coast Tourism Association and CEO of Heritage Hotels left no doubt where he stood in this saga when he posted on his Facebook page:

As tourism players we raised this concern two months ago yet Kenha simply sat on its hands . What is so hard in getting a contractor to do his work with money given to you by KRA. In business we must raise revenue first before we can think on how to spend it. In goverment the revenue authority collects it and it is disbursed through treasury to bodies like Kenha . In 2015 vehicles getting stuck in a regional highway . What is so hard in fixing a single lane road ? What is so hard in coming up with a proper diversion ? Totally unacceptable . Bure kabisa ......

A few weeks earlier had Mohammed taken issue with the Kenya Ferry Services when he posted this comment:

Folks 3 Ferries are in now operation but a radical surgery is required at KFS.

What is painfully clear is that tourism, and trade for that matter too of course, are suffering immensely from these all too frequent interruptions and that what is being done to address the ferry breakdowns and eternal traffic jams seems too little too late. With anti-travel advisories against the Kenya coast now by and large lifted is it of paramount importance that visitors are able to do their two, three or four days safaris to Tsavo, Taita Hills and Amboseli by road without losing much time sitting in traffic jams when instead they should sit comfortably in their safari cars watching game in the parks.


It is important that those who chose to fly to Mombasa for a holiday can cross the Nyali bridge enroute to the north coast hotels and the Likoni ferry without wasting hours waiting for their turn to get on a ferry to reach their resort in Diani or else bite fingernails on the way to the airport, fearful they might miss their flights. If not, those tourists, confronted with such issues, may come to regret their choice of destination and under present circumstances, when every single extra tourist counts, this should be avoided at all cost.

Good wishes for better days ahead, in terms of increased visitor numbers but also to solve those perennial issues on ferry crossings and traffic into and out of Mombasa.