[quote=nairobby]SGR construction to end in Naivasha as funding wasn't be secured. Kenya wouldn't be able add 378 billion debt to finance Naivasha - Kisumu to its balance sheet anyway. What next now for this white elephant?

https://twitter.com/citi...tus/1121837800247234560[/quote]

Foolishly looking at the small picture. For your information:
1. Plans for standard gauge railway lines to connect East Africa to West Africa and Cape to Cairo;
2. Plans go back over 100 yrs ago when the British ruled most of Africa;
3. Landfaced countries have to invest in SGR before the landlocked countries, common sennse since railways must terminate at seaports hence Kenya has to commit before UG, SS, CAR;
4. Might not happen in your lifetime but will happen anyway. Historical attempts to connect the East to the West, around or through African well documented re. Vasco Da Gama and Suez Canal.

I always wonder why people fear large projects. They should have taken this SGR all the way to Kampala atleast and possibly Rwanda. Every added mile means more cargo to/from Mombasa, hence faster pay off period.

China at one time were building 6,000 miles of highway annually. And the sheer size of the OBOR should inspire Africans to dream surely. The road between China and pakistan through the Himalaya's is jaw dropping.

We need to take risks, ama we shall perish with our midget projects that cannot exploit our vast resources fully.

It's a very convenient train from Coast to Nairobi.. The cost was exorbitant but it is a good service

Lunatic viability or not there was no other option at the time At the time Lunatic was conceived and built, there was no other suitable means of transport on land. Mass produced cars would not available till a decade later. So, we need to look at the reality here and now and act accordingly from informed position. Those who don't learn from history are bound to make unwarranted mistakes

Lunatic express was not viable. It was an imperialist race to the bottom. It's purpose was domination to control the source of River nile and ultimately control the downstream countries. Sir Charles Elliot even wondered why it was built in the first place. There were no minerals or commodities to transport back to the sea. The 5m pounds could have done more wonders.

Please state the benefits.

All projects should have a return on investment, especially projects of this scale. These don't have to be quantified by monetary terms but can be modelled economically. If this project was really viable a feasibility study would have been done BEFORE the project outlining all these. A feasibility study was technically done but it's never been made public. Ndii shared a page from it which had unrealistic projections and is why I question the viability.

It is expensive debt and if a project cannot service it's debt especially if it was mooted in it's ability to repay it's debt we have a right to be very worried. This cost will be borne at the expense of healthcare, education and the likes.

Finally, read the feasibility study on Thika Superhighway and see it's cost benefit analysis. Good day.

These guys consume less than 3% of the budget....

SGR was the better option compared to the upgraded MGR. Ndii is the same guy who framed 2009 economic stimulus package building fish/frog ponds and markets that took 10 years to build. He has some obsolete ideas.

Who will be building locomotives for the upgraded MGR in future? MGR coaches and engines are getting obsolete and being discarded all over the world. Heck we are getting discarded ex-spanish DMUs for Nairobi rail. In 10 years our economy will be able to take in some more debt to push SGR westwards.

SA makes some cheap MGR engines and wagons,and so is Brazil.

There is no much significant difference in sizes between the two in terms of engines n wagons...they just have to change the wheel base sizes.only that.