Kenya Railways has announced that they will in the coming days demolish a section of Mutindwa Market to pave way for a railway stage.
The refurbished Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) bought for Nairobi City will arrive in Kenya next month as the country moves to modernise the urban commuter trains in the capital.
Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said that the DMUs bought from an island in Spain were finally on the way.
Mr Hinga also shared the pictures of the second hand DMUs, as they were loaded onto trucks in Mallorca on their way to Barcelona.
He said from Barcelona, they would then be shipped to Mombasa.
Cabinet last year approved the plan by Kenya Railways to buy 11 DMUs through a government-to-government arrangement.
At the moment, Sonko road which feeds traffic into Outering road from Buruburu has already been closed for traffic as construction begins.
Kenya Railways said it acquired the 11 refurbished DMUs, five coaches and spare parts from Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca (SFM) at a negotiated price of Sh1.15 billion. The diesel units have a remaining economic useful life of 23-25 years.
Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga said in an earlier interview that the DMUs would be used on the Nairobi Commuter Rail (NCR).
They should give a major boost to the ongoing reforms to turn around the capital, and city transport is one of the key deliverables for the new Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), which is now under the management of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The market which has been demolished umpteenth times will not survive this time.
The area now occupied by Sonko Road was once occupied by stalls of traders when Mutindwa Market was big and thriving.
Traders are still conducting business but some have already got a place to move to.
The areas has also been a black sport owing to the many blind spots for cars and the train.
In 2013, 11 commuters going to town on Umoinner Sacco minibus died after a Ruiru bound commutter train rammed into it in the early morning incident.
Since then, there have been other minor non-fatal accidents.
Over the years, attempts to move the market have been futile.
KRC had over the past few years built modern railway stations at Makadara, Imara Daima, Mlolongo, and Pipeline in Embakasi.
The renovation of the Railway commuter stations is part of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement Project (NaMSIP) financed by the World Bank Group.
