Thika Road BRT System to Begin Operations in two weeks

The much-awaited Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor between Kasarani and Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) is set to begin operations in two week in a move expected to tackle traffic congestion on Thika Road.

This follows the near completion of the pilot inception phase of what is known as Simba BRT corridor, which runs from Ruiru to KNH, a distance of 27 kilometers.

After the pilot phase, Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (Namata) is expected to implement phase one of the Ruiru-KNH mass transit corridor, in which 300 high-capacity buses will be deployed.

Namata will later implement phase two of the project, which will extend the corridor to run from Kenol in Murang’a County to Ongata Rongai in Kajiado County.

On final completion, Simba corridor will be served by 660 buses.

Principal Secretary in the State Department of Housing and Urban Development Charles Hinga recently dismissed claims that the project had stalled, saying the bulk of work – involving fabrication of steel – was happening away from the site.

“We are working at the factory on the structures, which once completed, will be delivered on site. Work is ongoing and we expect to start trials by July,” he said.

A park-and-ride facility is being established in Kasarani, where motorists heading to the city can park their cars and ride the BRT buses for the rest of the journey.

In 2020, Stecol Corporation, formerly SinoHydro Tianjin Engineering Company Ltd, signed a Sh5.6 billion deal with the State for construction of the BRT system.

Under the deal, the Chinese company will establish special lanes for high-capacity buses – each carrying about 160 passengers – from Haile Selassie in the city centre to Clayworks on the Nairobi-Thika highway.

The firm was tasked with converting the two innermost lanes of Thika Road into special lanes for buses – a job that involves remodelling of the road to include BRT facilities such as boarding stations and footbridges to ease access to the buses.

Five corridors

The ultimate game plan for Namata is to set up five corridors across five counties for use by buses. These corridors include Nyati, Chui, Ndovu, Simba and Kifaru.

The Ndovu line will cover Limuru-Kangemi, CBD-Imara Daima-JKIA to Athi River and Kitengela. Simba covers Rongai-Bomas-CBD-Ruiru-Thika and Kenol while the Chui line runs from Tala to Njiru-Dandora-CBD-Showground and Ngong.

Kifaru covers Kayole-Mama Lucy-Donholm-CBD-T/Mall-Bomas-Karen-Dagoreti and Kikuyu. Apart from the Outer Ring road corridor design from Imara to Balozi Estate, Nyati will be remodelled to cover Kiambu-Balozi and Imara Daima.

Implementation of the Nairobi BRT system, which has been in the works for nearly a decade, has been allocated Sh1.17 billion in the 2022/23 fiscal year.

A total of Sh1.05 billion will come from the National Treasury, with the remaining amount expected to come from foreign financiers.

The State had set aside Sh700 million for the project in the 2021/22 fiscal year.

The larger allocation is expected to pave the way for the commencement of works for several corridors, including the line from Dandora via Juja Road to the city centre whose construction is scheduled to begin by December.