Kenya Railways adds extra Madaraka Express service to ease holiday travel

Passengers walk out of Standard gauge Railway terminal in Mombasa. [File, Standard]

In a move to ease traveling during this festive season, Kenya Railways has introduced an additional Madaraka Express Passenger Service train.

This is now the fourth trip from the current three trips per day.

Normally, the Madaraka Express leaves Nairobi at 8am, 3pm and 4pm towards Mombasa and come from Mombasa the same.

The train has been in operation daily from December 8, 2025 to January 5, 2026, making one round trip each day.

The train departs Nairobi Terminus at 9:40 a.m, arriving at Mombasa Terminus at 3:35 p.m carrying 1,200 passengers.

The return service departs Mombasa Terminus at 4:30 p.m. and arrives in Nairobi at 10:55p.m.

Kenya Railways Managing Director Mr Philip Mainga said while addressing the media houses that both the Inter-county and Express trains on the regular schedule have reached full capacity as demand surges.

“Demand for travel during the festive season is exceptionally high. We have increased capacity by adding coaches to our regular trains. We introduced an additional train offering daily round trips,” said Mainga.

He added: “We also reviewed the Nanyuki Safari Train schedule and now we have daily trips to and from Nanyuki and now have the Kisumu train is back since, making a round-trip every one day.”

The Kisumu train resumed last Friday after in it stopped in April due to extensive repair work of the railway line that was washed away by floods at Kijabe area.

The Nairobi-Nanyuki train on the other hand has been leaving Nairobi to Nanyuki on Friday and come back on Sunday.

Mainga further urged passengers to remain vigilant and observe safety guidelines while at stations and on board trains.

He emphasised that the Corporation has deployed adequate staff to manage the increased numbers, maintain order and ensure safe and seamless operations throughout the holiday period.