A Chinese firm has started building a 23.5 kilometre rail connecting the standard gauge railway (SGR) line to the old track in Naivasha under a multi-billion shilling contract that seeks to create seamless travel between the Mombasa port and Uganda.

China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC)— which constructed the $4.7 billion (Sh507.6 billion) SGR line from the port of Mombasa to Naivasha— is building the new short track and rehabilitating a decades-old line from Malaba on the border with Uganda to Longonot in Naivasha.

CRBC started work last week and has already built two kilometres of the new meter gauge line that will link SGR to the old track.

The firm together with Kenya Railways have eight months to complete the job, including the rehabilitation works.

Uganda is also said to be working on the reconstruction of the metre gauge railway line from Malaba to Kampala with funding from the European Union.

The upgrades for the two lines, Malaba-Kampala and Tororo-Gulu, will cost Uganda some Sh18 billion.

The renewed focus on the metre gauge line now dims hopes for fast-tracking of the Chinese-funded SGR, which was expected to reach Kisumu by 2022 and link it to a sea port for shipping of cargo to Uganda.