The Kenya Railways has announced that there will be an increase in fare prices on the Standard gauge railway line due to the rise in the cost of fuel in the country.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the institution stated that the price increase would affect the Madaraka Express Services, and Nairobi Commuter Rail Service not forgetting the Kisumu and Nanyuki Safari trains.
The cost of travelling by SGR on first class from Nairobi to Mombasa will rise by 1,500 from the current Ksh.3,000 to Ksh.4,500 while those traveling using Economy class on the Nairobi-Mombasa route will be forced to pay Ksh.500 more from the previous Ksh.1,000 to now Ksh.1500.
“This increase is informed by changes in the energy and petroleum sector where prices of fuel have significantly increased thus affecting the cost of our operations” the Statement by Kenya Railways read.
The Railway line institutions also cautioned that the customers making advance purchases for the Madaraka Express Passenger Service will experience the fare adjustments from November 1st, 2023 to take into account the advance ticket purchasing window of 60 days.
The changes in prices for the Kisumu and Nanyuki routes are yet to be released.
According to the statistics provided, a liter of Super Petrol is currently retailing at Ksh.217.36, that for Diesel retailing at Ksh.205.47, and lastly for Kerosene going for Ksh 205.06 in Nairobi following a price increase of Ksh. 5.72 for petrol, diesel by ksh. 4.48 and lastly Kerosene by Ksh. 2.45 per litre.
There has been outcry from people all over the country over the steadily rising cost of living with some taking it as far as staging demonstrations pleading with the government to reduce the cost of basic commodities.
The Kenya Kwanza lawmakers have been blaming the rise in fuel prices on the fact that Kenya imports oil hence it does not have a say in the market.