KENYA: The cabinet gave the go-ahead in July for the Nairobi Railway City Central Station & Public Realm Project, which aims to redevelop the city’s station as a state-of-the-art multi-modal transport hub and revitalise the railway corridor within the central business district.
A new station building incorporating the heritage of the existing facility would have nine platforms and improved access bridges, to support a projected rise in footfall to 400 000 people/day by 2030 and 600 000 by 2045. Transport links would include bus rapid transit, commuter rail services and a standard gauge railway connection to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
‘An integrated transport network will be the end product of the Nairobi Railway City project’, said Davis Chirchir, Cabinet Secretary for Roads & Transport. ’It will link the existing transport infrastructure with the new infrastructure set to be constructed. This way, movement into and out of the city will be streamlined, thus elevating the travel experience for thousands of commuters.’
Public realm improvements are planned to attract private investment in transport-oriented development to unlock underutilised land, spur economic activity and increase foot fall in the city centre.
The project is drawing inspiration from the regeneration of London’s King’s Cross station and its surroundings, which President William Ruto and senior government and transport officials toured during July. The Railway City project was also highlighted at the 2025 Kenya Investment Forum in London.
The British government funded a team of urban development experts to support the Kenyan government with planning, and in 2022 UK Export Finance signed a memorandum of understanding for the potential financing of infrastructure projects starting with the station; this would require UK content amounting to 30% to 40% of the total design and construction cost.
