President Macron said the JKIA suburban train would be ready by 2021: the standard

NAIROBI, KENYA: Visiting French President Emmanuel Macron promised Kenyans a new suburban train in three years.

He noted that Kenyans were eager for any delay and promised that the project would be completed by 2021.
"By the end of 2021, this new connection will be possible," he said.
He was responding to Uhuru Kenyatta, his host president, who had asked him to exert more pressure on a French company to quickly complete a suburban train in Nairobi for which she had been tasked.

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The train should connect Nairobi Central Station to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport via Eastlands.
A French consortium is currently conducting an implementation study on the rail project but President Uhuru complains of the slow pace with which it took time.
At the same time, President Macron announced that projects worth 3 billion euros between Kenya and France would be approved.
"Tell them to finish the project in two years and not in ten years," he told President Macron.
President Uhuru said that in the long run, the line would serve 500,000 commuters a day over the next year.

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"Our goal is for 500,000 urban commuters to move freely every day in the next 12 months. That number will reach more than a million commuters a day in the next five years, "he said.
He added that rail was part of his government's efforts to open public transit corridors to reduce pollution and congestion and make it cheaper for commuters.
The suburban railway upgrade also includes 10 billion shillings for the rehabilitation of four existing lines (Nairobi Central Station at Ruiru, Nairobi Central Station at Embakasi Village, Nairobi Central Station at Kikuyu and Nairobi Central Station at Kitengela ). The investment also includes the acquisition of renovated diesel multiple units (DMU) as well as the construction of a public transport network from Ruiru to Athi River.

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President Emmanuel MacronPresident Uhuru KenyattaJKIA