China's train maker to provide maintenance services to Kenya railway

BEIJING - China's largest train maker CRRC Corporation confirmed Friday that its subsidiary CRRC Qishuyan, Co., Ltd. has secured a business order for the maintenance of Kenya's Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

The CRRC subsidiary is to provide maintenance for the 56 passenger, freight, and shunting locomotives running on the railway, which were also delivered by the same company.

Maintenance services will include equipment checks as well as minor and major repairs, CRRC said.

As a model project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR was constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation and adopted Chinese standards and technology. China also financed 90 percent of the project.

The 472-km railway linking the Kenyan capital Nairobi and the port of Mombasa has been operating for over 100 days since its opening at the end of May.

Trains on the railway have carried 280,000 passengers so far, according to CRRC.