Ephraim Njega
The KShs 700 SGR fare is laughable.By simple Arithmetic if the SGR carries 5,000 Passengers per day (hardly feasible) they will make KShs 3.5 Million each day. If they do this every day of the year (highly unlikely) they would pocket KShs 1.3 Billion in a whole year. I doubt this would be enough even for offsetting the Salaries.
The idea that more Kenyans will travel to Mombasa because of SGR is also far-fetched. No one can travel to Mombasa just because the fare is cheap. Even the issue of reduction in travel time cannot motivate one to travel to Mombasa. The idea that Domestic Tourists will flood Mombasa is a Middle Class Fantasy.
It is also clear that Kenya Railways has done little market research to understand the customer better. You just need to go to River Road and see the kind of baggage the traders there carry in the buses. Has SGR provided for such?
As JamboJet learnt painfully Kenyan Passengers like flexibility in scheduling of travel times. SGR should not have to learn this painfully. Kenyans like pay as you go option and not buying of tickets before travel time. This will make it tricky for SGR to plan schedules.
The issue of seamless connectivity from Syokimau to Nairobi CBD and from Miritini to Mombasa CBD cannot be taken for granted. This will be a deal breaker for many passengers who will miss the time advantage due to traffic jams.
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