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The people recruited to work on the railway are expected to play part in sustainably running the line once it is completed/FILE

Kenya

Chinese firm begins hiring for SGR project

The people recruited to work on the railway are expected to play part in sustainably running the line once it is completed/FILE

The people recruited to work on the railway are expected to play part in sustainably running the line once it is completed/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 2 – China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has begun recruitment for local staff who will be involved in construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

The firm, which has been contracted to build the Sh327 billion modern railway line between Nairobi and Mombasa, is looking to bring on board a wide range of Kenyan talent that will include engineering, technical and operations personnel for the railway construction.

CRBC said it would intensively train the new employees that it is bringing on board and ensure their capacity is at par with global standards.

“To complete the project on time, about 30,000 workers will be employed. Kenyan workers hired to work on the railway will be trained on such areas as technology, safety and environment management,” CRBC said in a statement.

The people recruited to work on the railway are expected to play part in sustainably running the line once it is completed.

READ: Compensation for SGR land begins

“Once the project is completed, the large number of qualified and experienced workers will be crucial in running the new railway line sustainably as well as work in industries that will be set up to produce spare parts for the locomotives,” the Chinese firm said.

CRBC is currently receiving applications from interested job seekers.

The personnel being sought by CRBC range from engineers and equipment operators to human resource officials, land surveyors and casual labourers.

The new railway is expected to significantly reduce the transportation costs and save time, which is expected to have a direct impact on cost of commodities and generally ease the cost of doing business.

Currently, passenger trains take eight hours, sometimes more, between Nairobi and Mombasa. The new railway will however reduce this by more than 50 percent with speeds of 120 kilometers per hour for passenger trains bringing down travel time to four and a half hours.

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At 80kph, freight trains will reduce travel time from upwards of 16 hours at the moment to about eight hours.

The SGR is also expected to play a key role in promoting growth across all economic sectors that heavily rely on transport infrastructure both in Kenya and the region.

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