You asked and you will receive. Kenya Railways will on Monday introduce an online platform to buy tickets for the SGR train to and from Mombasa. Kenyans have been complaining about the requirement that you physically present yourself with cash at the Terminus, and Kenya Railways has now obliged. They have also introduced an Mpesa paybill number.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by managing director Atanas Maina. He further revealed that the uptake of the new service has been very impressive, with 7000 Kenyans having used it between Thursday and Tuesday.
That would translate to over 160 buses that lacked passengers in that period.
Kenya Railways has also announced plans to introduce a new train that will make stops at all stations. The new train will be launched some time in July.
Meanwhile, many Kenyans are taking to social media to post about their experiences using this service.
One review that caught our eyes was written by Evans Ogeto on Facebook. Read it below.
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MY SGR EXPERIENCE TODAY on 7th June 2017
First, getting to the Nairobi Terminus is a nigtmare, you know Mombasa road and traffic….alafu the train station is bila signage so you might pass…….actually it’s past the Syokimau Railway station.
Good looking station…..the Nairobi Station that is.
Cost me Kshs1,100 on uber
First stop is ticketing….paid Kshs. 700bob.
Why do we have Chinese attendants???…ama ni after-sale services??
Kenyans have embraced it and are really turning up in numbers…which is a good thing. May be the station just needs to come closer to cbd….easy accessible. We could see the numbers increasing.
The ticket is very fast, waiting area is great…not sure about how they will handle numbers lakini….
The train is used by everyone including guys moving small cargo…foods and small house hold items….which makes it a mwanainchi thing. Some guys going for holiday on such a day…good Lord.
Don’t expect so much, its just any normal travel you are used to….families, every one fighting for the window, you will find people siting on your sit despite having the seat number indicated on your ticket…..
We don’t need people shouting at the station…oooh coach 10..to your left…oh coach 15 to your right….we need signage. We are a very literate nation Pls Kenya Railways….
I was on coach 14 and our capacity was 118 pax……now do the maths……those are two buses already and the coaches were kinda many…they were actually 15.
I sat next to a guy who was contemplating how he could get the contract to clean the train…..I hope the government is listening…..and I am here hoping it’s not some Chinese guys doing that.
Next time I should pay for vip…for now don’t ask me vip questions…
It’s 8.58 and the first hoot is on….movement just started.
But this train thinggy needs discipline….enough guys were left behind….they think it operate on our Kenyan time…
At exactly 9.00am we are on….Mombasa here we come.
The ride is super soft.
How I felt, ati we passing over Nairobi National Park…nkt….
(CYOM) Carry your own Music-ninjas will give you Kenny Rogers all the way….
You will also get some zilivuma jams….some of you too young for those.
Food and drink orders take time. They take really long like 2 hours. We ordered while.in Nairobi and got our drinks past Mtito Andei. I really felt it for this lady who was next to me with her two children.
She was excited to have paid half price for her 7 year old son.
Na offcourse wale watu wa kiherehere wako kibao. Msee anapiga roundi from couch 1 to 15…sijui anaconfirm nini kama dere ni wa kwao..lakini alifika pale vip ndio akajua mbivu na mbichi.
So Kenya Railway guy is here for feedback…..
My guy here is like trolley zikam……mizigo..magunia..hatuwezi beba tu hivyo..msee anachoka sana…kutoka kwa gate tukuwe na trolly alafu unawekelea kiairport style.
Online booking….he says it will be rolled out soon….also mpesa will be rolled out…they more so wanted to check on how it progresses as they proceed to roll these other things…..which is normal.
Fyi, carry cash for paying your ticket. Hapa kuswipe na mpesa zii.
Tukuwe na wargon ya matipitop hivi…hii safari pia ni long….macocktails hivi ma guiness pale….iyo ni feedback bado.
And we love using our camera phone…lovely how even the old cannot avoid doing selfie things….
Express is express though….1.45hours down and we are half way at Mtito Andei.
Here we got to interchange with the fellaz coming up from Mombasa…coz the delayed we waited for that train for 15minutes at Mtito Andei.
We saw Elephants at Tsavo, but they ran away….I will reserve my comment nkt.
We got to Miritini finally, that’s the final station which is Mombasa.
Just like Nairobi, it’s so far away from the CBD…..however, here there is no public transport. The only transport is taxi and it’s quite expensive to use a taxi in Mombasa…y’all know.
Uber is not working…as far as I am concerned..tried it.
So In short, I got to Miritini at 1.40pm and go to my final destination at 4pm. So where is that time I saved. nkt!
As I conclude, SGR is good, just like any other projects…there is great room to improve. They are building the road from Miritini to some place as you head to Mombasa CBD…which is good…Mombasa Roads though..you guys need miracles…
Feel free to share your experience too….
We fikad Mombasa and we were over 1,100 pax on that one ride…now ask yourself if those oxygenated buses will have anything to do…they might as well shift buses and move my people from Nairobi to Kisii.
I am out.
– Follow @Evans Ogeto
