The night has never been longer as I travelled from Nairobi to Kisumu in the recently introduced Kenya Railways Corporation weekly overnight service. The train driver hooted at 6.15pm. to alert passengers and the crew to be ready for the departure in the next 15 minutes or else have themselves to blame.
By then, most of the passengers, men, women and children who were dressed warmly ready for the marathon 350Km. ride through the country’s most agriculturally-endowed parts, built over 100 years y the colonialists, were on board and ready to sit back, relax and enjoy the experience.
Unlike in the colonial train where the passengers were segregated into three; first, second and third class, depending on one’s race and weight of one’s pocket, the current one has two sections.
Pocket-friendly fare
The first, which I used, is the Economy Class, where passengers share a coach that can sit up to 100 people, seated on two and or three seater-benches facing each other on either side of the aisle at a pocket friendly fare of Kshs600 per person, one way.
Thank God there were not very many passengers on board travelling last Friday night, so most of us had the luxury of stretching and taking a nap on the three-person benches to ourselves.
On the other side, there is a reserved coach for First Class passengers, who part with Kshs2,000 per person, and have the privilege of using a two-passenger coach with a bunker, wash hand basin and small room to change ones clothes, if need be.
Most passengers in the Economy class travelled with their wives, partners and children and expressed satisfaction at the using-friendly fare during these hard economic times where matatu (vans) and bus operators had hiked the fare to between Kshs1,200 to Kshs1, 500 per person on the same route following the recent increase in fuel pieces by the Government through the Energy and Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
Those in the exclusive class also known as ‘wadosi’ or ‘dynasty’ also have the luxury of using the well-stocked canteen in person or ordering for room service at an extra cost. At midnight, my uncle and I used it to buy tea and snacks.
Love charms
For first timers, the recent ride would feel like being in a boat or ship sailing on water as it trudges on moving from side to side along the rail line. But for me, the trip was my third; the last one was three months ago when I ‘experimented’ with the day train which had been revived by President Uhuru Kenyatta, on the eve of Christmas, in 2021.
My first trip was over two decades ago when I was a cub reporter for Nation Newspapers which has since been renamed Nation Media Group, to enjoy the experience and also write a feature story for Sunday Nation magazine. By then, business was booming with the night train a beehive of activities as the hawkers seized the opportunity along the route to sell their wares to the crowded passengers who sat on two long coaches on either side of the coaches, like in church.
The hawkers’ wares varied from dried to fresh foodstuffs and vegetables plus cooked foodstuffs like boiled and roasted maize. But wonders never cease; some hawkers had strange items, at least to me like nails of pigs, said to be used as love portions! These were only whispered to men and young women, who were daring to ask or request for the same.
But the revived night train does not allow hawking or preaching in the coaches. The ride was most refreshing, exciting and adventurous as I had the opportunity for the first time to view and take nice photos and videos of the Kibera slums, Kikuyu escarpment, the Escarpment and Rift Valley followed by Lakes Naivasha, Elementaita and Nakuru before enjoying the wheat, maize, tea plantations along the stretch to the lake side city of Kisumu.
Cleanest railway station in East Africa
But the night train, which replaced the day train because of few passengers, does not have such luxuries. Less than half an hour after our departure from the Central Railway Station, dusk ended and we were in darkness throughout the 12-hour journey, except for the coaches which are well lit for security and safety reasons.
The first stop to pick passengers was at Kikuyu station followed by Limuru and then Naivasha before we had a 30-minute health break at Nakuru station, reputed in the past to be “the cleanest not only in East Africa” during the days of East African Railways & Harbours Corporation under the defunct East African Community (EAC).
After the break which most passengers used to stretch out for a short walk, buy snacks and use the washrooms, it was back to the coaches for the 200 Km. second leg through Njoro, Elburgon, Molo, Londiani, Kipkelion, Tunnel station, Fort Ternan, Koru, Muhoroni, Chemelil, Miwani, Kibos and then finally Port Florence (Kisumu) at 6am. we landed at the recently built modern Kisumu Railway station.
As we moved from one station to the other, some passengers boarded while others alighted to connect to their respective homes and destinations.
On the way back, on Sunday at 8.30pm. I boarded it at Fort Ternan Station, two hours it departed from Kisumu, and had ensured that I had warm clothes and had fed well ready for the return.
The ride was uneventful as most passengers spent most of the time in slumber land while others were in dream land most of the way to Nairobi. I was the only one reading a newspaper and a novel.
I alighted at Kibera station, at 6:15am. the last before the final destination at Central Business District, It was a worthwhile trip.
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