Chinese-built railway pushes forward Kenya's modernization drive

Speakers: Li Ningjing, Sam Duckett，Nillah Nyakoa

[Photo: News.cn]   

The 480 km railway linking Kenya's largest port city Mombasa to capital Nairobi, will be officially launched today. Experts predict it will be a key infrastructure project that will push forward the East Africa nation's modernization drive.

The Chinese-built Standard Gauge Railway involves a total investment of 3.8 billion U.S. dollars, which makes it Kenya's largest infrastructure project since its independence.

Construction of the railway began in December 2014 with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) being the contractor.

The Kenyan government has anticipated the SGR to boost Kenya's GDP by 1.5 percentage points annually, promote industrialization and bring in investment along the route by reducing the cost of transportation.

A report published by China Communications Construction Company, the parent company of the China Road and Bridge Corporation which built the project, said the SGR project has created more than 46,000 local jobs and the number of local workers who received training has hit 45,000.

The designed speeds for passenger trains on the SGR line are 120 km/h and 80 km/h for freight trains.

The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI.