Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja on Thursday told the Senate that the Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transit System (NMRTS), which includes the capital’s first-ever underground metro line, will offer a lasting solution to chronic traffic congestion and turn Nairobi into a “20-minute city.”
Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations, Sakaja said the project had gained fresh momentum after approval from the Nairobi City County Executive Committee, with the national government also moving to fast-track its rollout.
“The first-ever underground metro system in Nairobi was approved by my Cabinet. The NMRTS is the ultimate solution to congestion in the city,” Sakaja told senators.
He said the initiative revives a transport vision that has remained on paper for more than eight decades, tracing back to a 1948 proposal for a ring railway and Central Business District rail links, followed by similar recommendations from the Nairobi City Study Group in 1972 and the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Master Plan in 2014. None of those plans were implemented.
“When you travel around the world, you wonder where all the people are—they are underground, travelling,” he said, adding that even wealthy individuals in other cities rely on public transport because well-designed systems are reliable, punctual and convenient.
Sakaja disclosed that the full NMRTS programme is estimated to cost USD7.78 billion, roughly Ksh1 trillion, with the first phase alone requiring that amount. Financing will be drawn from a mix of national government funding, pension funds and Transit-Oriented Development investments, with the national government expected to contribute at least Ksh388 billion.
He said feasibility studies had already been completed with technical support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and Chinese experts, and that a Project Management Unit was now being set up. He cited the underground crossing at the Haile Selassie Avenue-Uhuru Highway junction as proof that such infrastructure is achievable in Nairobi.
Under Phase One, the metro line will connect the Central Business District to Eastlands, with underground sections extending to Westlands and Upper Hill. Phase Two will expand the network along Ngong Road and Lang’ata Road.
Sakaja said the system will integrate metro rail, commuter rail, Bus Rapid Transit and non-motorised transport into a single network, and would also unlock economic gains through rising land values around transit stations.
“We cannot continue welcoming international investors and visitors only for them to spend two hours stuck in traffic,” he said, adding that Nairobi’s implementation plan and station locations were already in place.
