The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) passenger service train from Nairobi to Mombasa is fully booked ahead of Christmas.
The bookings register shows the trains are fully booked between December 22 and 23 and only a few are available on December 24.
This comes as a boost to the tourism sector, with hotels hoping to make a kill in the upcoming festivities. Mombasa is a popular destination for Christmas as tourists and locals flock to the beaches to have fun as they bid goodbye to the year and usher in a new year.
In recent years, SGR has become the preferred mode of transport to the coast owing to its efficiency. It offers cheap tickets at Sh1,000 for the Economy Class and Sh3,000 for First Class.
Children below three years are not charged any fee to take a ride on the train, while those from 3 to 11 years pay half the price adults pay for the economy and first-class tickets.
The rates are, however, expected to go up from January 2024 to Sh1,500 for the Economy Class and Sh4,500 for First Class.
SGR fares increased by 50 percent. See new fares
“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,” said Kenya Railways in a statement.
The high bookings mean that holidaymakers will have to seek expensive alternatives to travel out of the busy capital. This includes flights and matatus.
The cheapest flights to Mombasa during the Christmas week is at about Sh9,000 for early bookings, with the cost expected to surge further to up to over Sh19,000.
Matatus, on the other hand, charges between Sh1,500 and Sh3,000 depending on the bus company.
Kenya Railways has steadily increased coaches on the Nairobi-Mombasa line since the SGR launch in June 2017 to match the rising demand that has denied bus operators new customers.
SGR train has a capacity of 1,260 passengers with 15 economy classes and three first-class coaches. It also comes with a luggage carrier with a total capacity of 70 tonnes.
