Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya is now setting ground for the construction of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor railway infrastructure to compliment road transport.
The planned Standard Gauge Railway has entered the planning and feasibility stage which will inform investment decisions.
According to the LAPSSET Authority Corridor Development Authority, the railway line will complement highways by enabling high-capacity freight movement from Lamu Port to inland and regional markets.
“Rail can move three to four times more cargo than road, reduce freight costs by up to 40 per cent, boosting regional trade and connectivity,” the authority said.
The 3,000 km big ticket standard gauge railway project will connect Lamu Port to Isiolo before branching into three arteries to Addis Ababa, Juba and Nairobi.
Kenya Railways estimates the cost of the 544.4-kilometre SGR link between Lamu Port and Isiolo to be at least $3.49 billion (Sh449.9 billion), with a further $3.17 billion (Sh408.6 billion) to connect to Ethiopia.
With a projected economic internal rate of return of more than 12 per cent, LAPSSET Authority has termed the project viable.
With the Port of Lamu planned for 23 berths (3 operational) and designed to handle over 20 million tonnes of cargo annually at full development, integrated road and future rail links are expected to cut transit times to northern Kenya and neighbouring markets by over 50 per cent, it has noted.
“Once operational, the LAPSSET railway is expected to strengthen regional connectivity, decongest roads, lower logistics costs, and unlock trade and investment across Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and the wider East Africa,” states the feasibility and engineering studies, backed by the Africa Union infrastructure fund.
LAPSSET is Eastern Africa’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project, which positions Kenya at the centre of the region’s trade, in addition to the Northern Corridor, which runs from the Port of Mombasa into Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and South Sudan.
The LAPSSET Corridor has been identified as one of the key drivers to regional integration through infrastructure, as it forms part of the envisioned Equatorial Land Bridge that traverses from LAPSSET Port to Douala in Cameroon.
The rail will be linked with the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR, which is being extended to Malaba.
Kenya is positioning Lamu as a transhipment hub while also enticing Ethiopia to use it as its main import and export facility, targeting mainly southern Ethiopia.
Lamu posted the highest performance growth in 2025, handling 799,161 metric tonnes, up from 74,380 metric tonnes in 2024—driven by containerised cargo.
Lamu Port general manager Capt. Abdulaziz Mzee said the growth signals the port’s strengthening role in regional and international trade networks.
Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association has reported growing inquiries from global shipping lines seeking to use Lamu.
World’s largest container shipping line recently joined CMA CGM, the world’s third largest shipping company, for operations at the Lamu port.
