Governments don't make good business decisions. That is why they should stay away from running anything that involves generating profits.

Very beautiful.It's just reminded me i used to pay 7 bob from Eldie to Nai. Maybe that is why they closed shop.

Shainis and Rashians Gaaments are doing pretty well.

Lost glory indeed. It was at one time the biggest employer in Kenya and provided housing for all employees. They had huge estates in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. And boy were those estates fun places to be. They had all kinds of houses all the way from one room bedsitters to 3 and 4 bedroom houses and everything in between. Houses were well maintained, estates looked good with wide open spaces, social halls, football fields, there were open air movies and all other amenities.

Because there were so many football fields, these Kenya railways estates produced a disproportionate number of top footballers in Kenya. Kaloleni and Makongeni even had two teams in the national football league. And when they played, the whole estate would come to city stadium to cheer. Fun times.

And Muthurwa social hall aka Dallas is responsible for producing something like 50% of the Kenyan boxers who have won medals at the Olympics and Commonwealth games.

And I am very nostalgic about riding those second class coaches, sleeping in the middle bunk on the way to coast or elsewhere.

Can a public railway be well managed? Only if the public demands accountability, something that Kenyans are not interested in. In Brazil there are riots when public transport companies raise fares. In new York the mayor and the MTA carefully needs to explain each time the MTA raises subway fares. And in Kenya the public is mostly hoodwinked by appeals to tribal loyalty. So while public officials loot, the public focuses on which tribe is in power.

I said well managed, not profitable. IMO The goal of a public utility is not to make profits but to provide badly needed services. To make business possible by efficiently moving goods across the country. To alleviate traffic by providing alternative transportation. And so forth. Financially, a public utility just needs to break even while providing badly needed services.

Governments don't make business decisions they make political ones. Business decisions are not always popular some of the railways that are being touted as being successful are actually not profitable - they still require the tax payer to fork out some cash.

The housing was built by the British colonial government. For example, Kaloleni estate was built around 1940 or earlier.

And as far as I can tell, it never prevented them from investing adequately in the core business.

The British figured that employees would be more productive and more loyal if they had decent housing and housing that was actually near their job.

Also it is the responsibility of the government to ensure adequate housing is available.

The social amenities and fields were geared towards keeping youth busy in positive activity and away from idling which leads to crime and drug use. And for the Brits they especially wanted to avoid political agitation from the natives. So they pacified them.

Remember that Kenya Railways was never intended to be a profit generating business. It provided numerous indirect benefits to the colonial government which far outweighed the costs

In modern times, a railway provides indirect benefits to the government : by easing transportation, it raises productivity which can create jobs or business opportunities. It can ease traffic. Provide direct employment........

Roger Whitaker made a song of it

The first mistake made was to break the east African rail and habour my grandfather tells me in the days of old it was the most reliable mode of transport he could do Karatina Nairobi Nyahururu very comfortably, when he imported his first jalopy he collected it at Nyahururu station not Mombasa, nowadays Kenya railways is not even able to provide frequent services in Nairobi while clearly there is potential, the Mombasa station is so dilapidated the photos hanging on the walls tell of a long gone era, I would like to know who will run SGR if it's the same guys same fomula then expect no change, truckers pay KR to make sure inefficiency is maintained, only trains that run well are the magadi and the Uganda owned ones, SOME THRIVE FROM OUR INEFFICIENCY

There is a Ugandan business man he owns 2 engines and a number of wagons, well known in Mombasa, he operates them same way Magadi does,handles most Uganda destined cargo.

Just saw a KR train with about 15 flat bed wagons in githurai, kwani they have a cargo service to Central Kenya or is it kina TATA motors and vw assemblies in Ruiru.