Kafrican
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 26, 2015
- 7,251
- 7,037
yeah, a profit carrying 4% of the rail's capacity---a mere 200,000 tonnes a year, while RVR use to make a loss carrying one million plus tonnes............. thats like comparing a kiosk that makes a tiny profit to a supermarket chain that is restructuring making a negative flow of cash..does turn over mean profit? TAZARA is making profit!
RVR is investing 200million USD plus....once they are done, in that turover of 57$million, half of it will be profit, while you will still be making small time earnings
ift Valley Railways (RVR) will ship in 120 wagons next month as the regional rail operator seeks a larger share of the cargo that leaves the port of Mombasa.
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The wagons, which have been bought from China CNR Corporation at Sh661 million or Sh5.5 million each, will see RVR move up to 60 tonnes on each wagon compared to 40 tonnes in the current wagon fleet.
RVR says the new fleet will help it grow its cargo handling capacity and meet the government’s demand for increased rail transport.
The new wagons come after the company bought 20 locomotives last year from American firm General Electric in a bid to increase cargo handled.
“The purchase of 20 new locomotives and the rehabilitation of existing wagons in 2014 have significantly expanded RVR’s mainline fleet of operating locomotives,” the company said in a statement.
“The railway has surpassed its set freight volume targets, moving 1.883 million tonnes of freight as at January 31, 2015 against a target of 1.737 million tonnes by March 31, 2015 in Kenya.”
The company is seeking a larger share of the cargo handled to and from Mombasa ahead of increasing competition from the Standard Gauge Railway.
RVR won a 25-year contract to run the 2,352km Kenya-Uganda railway in November 2006 for the cargo business, and a five-year contract for the passenger unit.
Last year, Kenya and Uganda issued a nine-month ultimatum to the firm to increase its cargo haulage after what was termed as a poor performance over the last decade.
Of the total 24.8 million tonnes handled at the Port of Mombasa last year, RVR transported 1.5million tonnes, accounting for less than 10 per cent of the total goods.
The bulk of the cargo is transported by road which the government has said is expensive in terms or road maintenance. The new wagons are part of a Sh25 capital plan