All aboard the Lunatic Express: revival of legendary railway

All aboard the Lunatic Express: revival of a legendary railway
The Nairobi to Mombasa railway heralded the birth of modern Kenya but it has fallen into decay. Now there are plans to restore it. Steve Bloomfield reports
Published: 26 March 2007

At 10 o'clock on a hot and humid Kenyan morning, as the sun rises above the Rabai hills that slope down towards the port of Mombasa, Frederick Omondi finds himself peering underneath a train carriage. "It is OK," he says. "It is only a burst pipe."

The Nairobi-Mombasa train left the cool of Kenya's capital 15 hours ago. It was supposed to arrive in Mombasa at 8 o'clock this morning but three breakdowns - make that four now there is a burst pipe - have delayed it.

"This is nothing," says Mr Omondi, the train manager, as he jumps back on board. "Once it took 29 hours. That was not good."

Within 15 minutes the pipe has been fixed and the 15 carriages, carrying some 400 passengers, enter the final stretch into Mombasa.

This railway heralded the birth of modern-day Kenya and Uganda. Stretching 657 miles from the humid coastal port of Mombasa, climbing through the desert of eastern Kenya, dipping into the Rift Valley, heading towards Lake Victoria, then turning once more towards Uganda's capital, Kampala, the railway enabled Britain to impose imperial rule across east Africa.

The land that now forms Kenya did not even interest the British. The railway's purpose was to provide a secure transit line from Mombasa to Lake Victoria. Kenya was viewed as a barren wasteland that would simply serve as a corridor to the lake.

A survey of the proposed route, presented to the Treasury in 1893, claimed there were "no great, or even serious, difficulties to overcome". The survey was wrong. Dismissed by opposition parliamentarians as a "gigantic folly", the railway took six years and £5m to build - a colossal sum in 1895. More than 600 workers died - many from malaria, some from attacks by lions.

It was nicknamed the "Lunatic Express" and over the past few decades that name has become pertinent once more. Chronic underinvestment and corruption has left the railway a shadow of its former self. Whereas once it carried presidents, prime ministers and Nairobi's elite, now it is only for the curious tourist who wants a bit of adventure and Kenyans who cannot afford to take the bus.

A new consortium aims to change that. Rift Valley Railways, backed by a South African transport firm, took over the company late last year and plans to return the Lunatic Express to its former glory. They will have a lot of work to do. New track needs to be laid, new engines and carriages introduced, and services need to be improved.

If the consortium needs an example of how to do it, they should look no further than Angola. Three decades of civil war destroyed the country's infrastructure, including its rail network. China has stepped in to rebuild three main railway lines, bringing its own labour and expertise. By next year, just five years after starting work, Angola is expected to open its new railways.

Night is closing in as we leave Nairobi. The electricity is not working so first and second-class passengers are issued with torches. There is no such luxury for those in economy class. The train's chef strides the narrow corridors playing a xylophone to call first and second class passengers to dinner. White-coated waiters serve up a very English-style three-course dinner - soup and beef stew, followed by sponge with custard. There is not enough cutlery to go around so some passengers have to wait for others to finish eating. The passengers in the dining car are almost entirely white. Just a handful of middle-class black Kenyans are in second class, none are in first. By contrast, the five economy carriages are entirely black. With no light and cramped seating, few enjoy a comfortable journey.

For tourists though, the "Lunatic Express" is not just a way of getting to their destination - it is part of the holiday. As the last passengers leave the dining car and people begin to bed down for the night, four French tourists drink whisky in their cabin. "It is just like an Agatha Christie novel," laughs Isabelle Magne. Together with her husband, Frederic, and his brother and wife, they decided to take the train because they wanted "to have an adventure", she says. "And this is certainly an adventure. When we arrived at the station it looked so British and colonial. The train looked like something from 100 years ago. In France we have the TGV - train à grande vitesse. This is the TPV - train à petite vitesse."

The driver of the "TPV", Peter Wainaina, grew up dreaming of becoming a pilot, while his older brother wanted to be a train driver. Their real lives mirrored the others' dream, but Mr Wainaina, 40, is happy with his lot. "It is very much a good job," he smiled. "I am covering many kilometres every day, seeing different sights, meeting different people."

Sat in his compact cabin, alongside his co-driver, Alloyce Ojiambo, Mr Wainaina gently re-adjusts the levers in front of him, increasing power as we climb a small incline, pulling softly on the brake as the track begins to dip. An emergency brake with a solid steel lever sits by his left elbow. Behind him the wall is home to a dizzying array of switches and buttons, gauges and monitors detailing pressure, heat and engine power.

Above his head sits a speedometer, the needle firmly stuck on zero. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I know our speed from experience. This is 40km per hour."

As the train ambles its way past small settlements composed of a sprinkling of mud huts with thatched roofs, small children stand at the side of the tracks waving at Mr Wainaina and Mr Ojiambo. Some wander across but Mr Wainaina has never worried about hitting a child. "They always get out of the way," he said.

Animals are another matter. The route to Mombasa takes our 15 carriages through some of Kenya's vibrant national parks where elephants, giraffes, buffalo and lions roam free.

On one occasion, in the middle of the night, Mr Wainaina hit an elephant. A family of elephants had been crossing the tracks as the train approached. Just making out the silhouette of the elephants in the darkness ahead of him, Mr Wainaina yanked back the emergency brake. The mother managed to push her baby out of the way, but she was struck. "I reacted fast but it was too late," said Mr Wainaina. The mother died instantly. "An elephant is only six tons. This train is 116 tons."

Accidents are not only caused by animals. As we approach Mariakani, a town 50km outside Mombasa, we pass the rusting corpse of a derailed cargo train lying on its side. It had been overloaded, said Mr Wainaina, and the driver had been going too fast.

As the train winds its way towards the coast, the sun rises over a landscape of desert and brush. Over the next few hours it gradually becomes more tropical, with palm trees replacing acacias and the heat and humidity increasing to uncomfortable levels.

Three British students peer out of the open window in their second class carriage. "It's absolutely amazing," gushes Sarah Collins, 21. "You wouldn't get to see all of this if you flew. We feel like we've seen a whole country."

For Kenyans, the attraction of the train has nothing to do with adventure. For most, flying is out of the question. On average, return flights to Mombasa cost around 12,000 Kenyan shillings (£95), although competition from a new airline has driven prices down as far as 5,540 for certain times. The bus, which can take eight or nine hours, costs 600 shillings each way. But the train costs just 400 shillings for a standard-class ticket. There are no beds and passengers have to hope it is not too crowded so that they can lie across a tatty leather covered seat made for two.

"It is not too bad here," says 21-year-old Kennedy Omondy, who is travelling to Mombasa to meet friends. "I could get some sleep last night. But now it is hot and there is no water."

After the final delay, some 30km from Mombasa, Frederick Omondi says the train is likely to be three hours late. There were hold-ups in Oulu and Dara during the night, while speed restrictions imposed after problems were found with the track have made progress slow. His passengers are not always that understanding. "You meet different types. Some are fine, but some are rowdy and want to beat you up. You learn how to deal with it."

We crawl into a hot and humid Mombasa at 11am, a full 16 hours after leaving Nairobi. The French tourists had been planning to get the train back after spending a week in Mombasa's resorts. Now, they're not so sure. "I think we will fly," says Mme Magne. "It will be quicker." Some 15 hours quicker to be precise.

The "Lunatic Express" has made it. A mere three hours late and Mr Omondi is happy. "That was OK. We had no major problems. But if you are in a hurry I would advise you not to get the train," he laughs.