Kenya Railways has reported an 8.8% drop in passenger numbers on the Madaraka Express, the country’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), in the first nine months of 2024.
This decline is attributed to a 50% fare hike implemented in January. As a result, passenger numbers declined by 171,803 to 1.8 million from 1.9 million recorded in 2023.
While the fare hike led to a 36.2% increase in passenger revenue to KSh 2.91 billion, it also discouraged many passengers, especially during off-peak seasons. The sharpest decline was in September, with a 32.7% drop to 296.4 million from 440.6 million in August.
Freight haulage on the SGR also experienced a slight decline of 3.1% to 4.8 million metric tonnes. However, revenue from freight remained relatively stable at KSh 10.3 billion.
