Commercial Projects

Work Begins on Much-Awaited Nairobi Railway City

An estimated Sh30 billion will be spent to plan the project.

Updated on

February 14, 2023

Construction of the Nairobi Railway City is finally underway, two months after the groundbreaking ceremony for the project that has been delayed for years.

The project, which has the backing of the United Kingdom, involves the construction of a 425-acre urban development on the area between Haile Sellasie Avenue, Uhuru Highway and Bunyala Road – comprising transit stations, homes, offices, among other features.

Designed by British architects, the Nairobi Railway City is expected to decongest the central business district by encouraging businesses to shift from the city centre to the new development’s special economic zones.

According to the Kenya Railways director general Philip Mainga, the overall scope of phase one’s early works is now underway with the initial task being the construction of a pedestrian footbridge across the Nairobi Railway Yard.

“We have already begun the construction work. The contractor is already on site and soon we will begin seeing changes,” Mr Mainga said on Monday.

The first phase of the project is expected to cost £80 million (Sh11.7 billion), which will come from the United Kingdom Export Finance.

Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 7, 2022, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the Nairobi Railway City was expected to serve as a template for other projects that the UK seeks to implement in Africa.

“It will regenerate central Nairobi and keep Kenya’s ambitions on climate on track. It will be built with the latest technology in green building technology to give the people of Nairobi an accessible and efficient railway system,” Mr Cleverly said.

The Nairobi Railway City, which is part of the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Plan, will take up 292 acres of land currently serving as the Nairobi Railway Station.

The development sits on the Nairobi Central Railway Station, the marshalling yard and the Kenya Railways Pension Scheme Land, commonly known as Landimawe Estate.

It stretches to the locomotive and wagon workshops and the section of Nairobi’s Industrial Area that edges the southern boundary of the Nairobi Railway Station.

According to the plan, Wakulima Market will be designed into a park, while KPCU’s coffee mill will be turned into a coffee centre modelled after Terrarosa Yangpyeong in South Korea.

The Technical University of Kenya which falls in the precinct will be upgraded to a ‘techno research and development institute’, while the section towards Bunyala Road will be dedicated to conferencing facilities.

READ: Donald Trump Expresses Interest in Nairobi Railway City

The area towards Landimawe and the Industrial Area will include a residential component of about 28,000 people with ‘mid, affordable and social housing’ with schools and a mini park.

The Nairobi Railway City has an implementation timeline of 20 years with phase one scheduled to happen between 2020 and 2030.

An estimated Sh30 billion will be spent to plan the project.

The plan includes the building of a new railway station that integrates with the Nairobi Bus Rapid Transit scheme and other public transport modes.

“The new central station ensures seamless connection among commuter rail, 3BRTs, airport limousine, city bus, and non-motorised transport like bicycle,” reads the master plan.

The Nairobi Railway City will be executed under a public-private partnership model where an investor builds and operates a facility for about 20 years to recoup their investment before handing over the property to the government.

Kenya is banking on PPPs to finance its development goals in a bid to tame the fast-rising pile of debt that is now threatening to hit Sh10 trillion.