By: OrePulse

Kenya Railways began operating its first block train service in partnership with French container shipping line CMA CGM on October 28, 2026, linking the Port of Mombasa with the ICD Embakasi intermodal terminal in Nairobi.

The inaugural train carried 108 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of cargo, according to Kenya Railways. The service was set up jointly by Kenya Railways, the Kenya Ports Authority and CMA CGM, and covers the full container-handling chain: unloading vessels and sorting boxes at the port, running the scheduled rail service along the Mombasa-Nairobi corridor, and transferring cargo at the Embakasi terminal in Nairobi.

A block train carries a single consignment of cargo to one destination without being broken up or re-sorted along the route, a method that can shorten transit times compared with conventional freight services that make multiple stops. Kenyan authorities said the new service is intended to cut the time needed to process cargo, speed up the turnaround of containers and other shipping equipment, and make rail transport a more attractive option for companies moving goods through the port of Mombasa.

The Mombasa-Nairobi corridor also connects by rail and road to Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, each of which routes a share of its import and export cargo through the Kenyan port. Kenya Railways said it expects the new block train service to draw additional freight volumes onto rail and to reinforce Mombasa's position as a logistics gateway for the wider East Africa region.