Infrastructure

Stalled Sh5.6bn Thika Road BRT Project Set for Revival

The BRT corridor was scheduled to open for trials in July 2022.

Updated on

July 27, 2023

Incomplete BRT station on Thika Road. — An incomplete BRT station on Thika Road. (Photo: Courtesy)

The stalled Thika Road Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is set for a comeback following renewed government commitment to revive works on site.

According to Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, plans are underway to settle money issues with the contractor to allow for the resumption of work.

“We are working with the National Treasury to ensure prompt settlement of pending bills owed to the contractor to enable him to resume work within the next two months,” Mr Murkomen said on Wednesday during his tour of the project.

The completion date for the project has been rescheduled to December 2024.

In August last year, a Chinese company that was building the BRT corridor vacated the site after the government failed to allocate money for the project.

Stecol Corporation, formerly SinoHydro Tianjin Engineering Co. Ltd., abandoned the project after the Treasury failed to allocate Sh3 billion that was required to complete the corridor between Kasarani and Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).

Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Charles Hinga had earlier said the project that kicked off in 2020 would open for trials in July 2022.

That did not happen due to lack of funds.

In 2020, Stecol Corp. signed a Sh5.6 billion deal with the State for the construction of the pilot phase of the 27km Simba BRT corridor, which runs from Ruiru to KNH.

After the pilot phase, Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (Namata) was expected to implement phase one of the Ruiru-KNH mass transit corridor, in which 300 high-capacity buses would be deployed.

Namata would later implement phase two of the project, which would extend the corridor to run from Kenol in Murang’a County to Ongata Rongai in Kajiado County.

On completion, Simba corridor would be served by 660 buses.

Under the deal, the Chinese company was to establish special lanes for high-capacity buses – each carrying about 160 passengers – from Haile Selassie in the city centre to Clayworks on the Nairobi-Thika highway.

The firm was tasked with converting the two innermost lanes of Thika Road into special lanes for buses – a job that involves remodelling the road to include BRT facilities such as boarding stations and footbridges to ease access to the buses.

A park-and-ride facility was to be built in Kasarani, where motorists heading to the city can park their cars and ride the BRT buses for the rest of the journey.

Five corridors

The ultimate game plan for Namata is to set up five corridors across five counties for use by buses. These include Nyati, Chui, Ndovu, Simba and Kifaru.

The Ndovu line will cover Limuru-Kangemi, CBD-Imara Daima-JKIA to Athi River and Kitengela. Simba covers Rongai-Bomas-CBD-Ruiru-Thika and Kenol while the Chui line runs from Tala to Njiru-Dandora-CBD-Showground and Ngong.

Kifaru covers Kayole-Mama Lucy-Donholm-CBD-T/Mall-Bomas-Karen-Dagoreti and Kikuyu. Apart from the Outer Ring Road corridor design from Imara to Balozi Estate, Nyati will be remodelled to cover Kiambu-Balozi and Imara Daima.

Implementation of the Nairobi BRT system, which has been in the works for nearly a decade, was allocated Sh1.17 billion in the 2022/23 fiscal year.

A total of Sh1.05 billion would come from the National Treasury, with the remaining amount expected to come from foreign financiers.

The State had set aside Sh700 million for the project in the 2021/22 fiscal year.

The larger allocation this year was expected to pave the way for the start of works for several corridors, including the line from Dandora via Juja Road to the city centre, whose construction was scheduled to begin by December 2022.

In May of this year, Members of Parliament declined to approve a new round of funding for the BRT project, terming it a sheer waste of public money.

The legislators urged Namata officials to present a compelling case that demonstrates the project’s viability before requesting any further funding.