Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), on Wednesday, February 8, unveiled a new National Deconsolidation Center allowing small-scale traders to clear their goods.
The new centre, also known as Kenya Railways (KR) Transit Shed, will allow consolidated cargo imported by sea and transported to Nairobi using the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to be collected by their owners.
National Cargo Deconsolidation Centre is located next to Nairobi Central Railway Station near the Central Business District (CBD).
The centre is set to have consolidators, warehouses for storage, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers for customs services and Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) officers for quality assurance.
According to Kenya Railways, the new consolidation centre targets traders in Gikomba, Nyamakima and other economic zones.
“Small scale traders from Nyamakima, Gikomba and other commercialised zones can now have their goods cleared at the National Cargo Deconsolidation Center also known as the KR Transit Shed,” Kenya Railways statement read in part.
The new centre is expected to help traders reduce transport expenditures and the time it takes to receive new goods imported into the country.
It will be used alongside the Boma Line Shed, which was launched by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in February 2020.
Boma Line Shed handles approximately six containers per day and reduces cases of missing cargo.
Following its launch,cargo from the Port of Mombasa took at least 18 hours to arrive at the Boma Line Shed, allowing traders to clear their goods in good time.
In 2021, the government collected Ksh1 billion from Kenya Railways Boma Line National Deconsolidation Centre. The government data indicated that a total of 1,021 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of consolidated goods belonging to small-scale traders had been cleared in the last nine months after the facility was operationalised in 2020.
“The facility has significantly reduced the cost of doing business for small-scale traders. Currently, it takes less than 24 hours for cargo to be transported to from the Port to Boma Line where it is immediately cleared and released for pick up by the traders.
“Nairobi CBD Traders pick their goods using carts or pick up trucks and hence avoid last mile costs. The Boma Line transit shed has been expanded to handle up to 30 TEUs in a day from four containers last year,” The government stated in part.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE