Confusion and frustration among passengers as commuter train stalls – VIDEO
Scores of passengers were on Wednesday morning left stranded after the Syokimau-Imara Daima-Makadara-CBD commuter train stalled.
The first train from Syokimau left the station at 6:30am as expected but started making random stops.
Just immediately after the Nairobi terminal, the train stalled while making its way to Imara Daima station.
According to the train hostess, the train had a mechanical problem thus causing low pressure.
“You will have to wait for about 20-30 minutes for a rescue locomotive which is coming from Makadara,” she said.
Commuters had already started getting agitated as no communication was forthcoming.
And there was more confusion when the 7:40am train from Syokimau-Imara Daima-Makadara-CBD arrived.
MECHANICAL PROBLEMS
Passengers did not know whether to board the train or stay in the stalled one.
Those who chose to alight and board the second train ignored the danger of jumping off the train’s high stairs.
This month only, the same train has stalled more than two times a situation Kenya Railways has attributed to mechanical problems.
“Why can’t the Kenya Railways fix this problem once and for all? We can’t be saying the same thing over and over again. They should use the money we pay for maintenance to avoid such incidents,” one exasperated commuter said.
The Syokimau train was introduced in November 2019 to help ease congestion at bus stations and along major roads leading in and out of Nairobi’s CBD.