Kenya Railways issues notice to Mutindwa traders of planned demolition
Kenya Railways Corporation has issued a notice of demolition of illegal structures at Mutindwa market.
Kenya Railways has urged traders to vacate the area that stand on road reserves, and less than three metres from the railway to pave way for access road into the station.
“The notice is hereby issued to all such persons living and or operating along the said reserve to voluntarily move out of the land,” the notice reads in part.
The market which borders Bidii Primary School and East School of Theology University has been demolished by successive Nairobi City administrations for various reasons.
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Mutindwa station is one of 10 that Kenya Railways is building in Nairobi and its satellite towns as it seeks to bring its services closer to commuters and boost passenger numbers.
Kenya Railways is betting on the 10 to win over more commuters forced to use congested roads owing to remote locations of some stations and frequent breakdown of its locomotives.
The upcoming stations are in Kibera, Kenyatta University, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Satellite in Nairobi and Mutindwa, Lukenya, and Konza in Machakos.
Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in December 2020, launched the revamped Nairobi Commuter Rail Service (NCRS) and the refurbished Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs). They consisted of 11 DMUs and Commuter Rail Buses.
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The project was part of the Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Master Plan modernisation and expansion of underutilised railway transport to reduce congestion on city roads.
The Nairobi Central Railway Station serves as the nerve centre of operations connecting with the DMUs that ply city routes, which include Embakasi Village, Pipeline and Donholm Railway Stations.
Currently, there are commuter train services on Nairobi – Imara Daima-Syokimau route, Nairobi – Githurai – Mwiki – Kahawa – Ruiru route, Nairobi-Embakasi route, and Nairobi – Kibera – Kikuyu route.
In the master plan to decongest the city, KR says the commuter railway network is up for rehabilitation with new lines mentioned above set to be added onto the 150km stretch of rail.