One of the biggest projects Kenya has ever undertaken is the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project which involved building a new railway line and new trains.
For a while now, we have seen the construction of the new railway line which has been pictured and shared all over social media, but the elusive trains were still a mystery. We knew how they would look on the outside, but the inside was still a mystery until yesterday.
Kenya Railways decided to give people a sneak peak of the various classes that you would find in the new SGR trains on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Demo of the first class coach of the train
The same demo, but for Kenya Railway’s Twitter audience
Live demo of the features you'll have on the First Class Passenger Coach #TheTrainsAreHere pic.twitter.com/GDiQMLbIXM
— Kenya Railways (@KenyaRailways_) January 29, 2017
More pictures of the first class coach
They also decided to show the 2nd class coach
Well, Kenyans had quite the reaction to the pictures and the videos Kenya Railways had posted and most of them were not positive at all.
Starting with the video of the first class coach on Facebook, people were generally not too impressed about them.
Moving over to the second class coaches (which was later revealed to be the economy class), people were still critical about them.
The sentiment was similar on Twitter and it was a reaction to the first class coaches.
This is a rip off!!!
@KenyaRailways_ THAT ☝ IS A RIP OFF!!!!!This 👇 is 1st class!!!! pic.twitter.com/yZxtpuMQsQ
— Peter Mwanje (@Ptahdaboss) January 29, 2017
Kenyans still compared the first class coach to other first class coaches from other countries.
.@KenyaRailways_ but why are you playing? This is below world first class standard. pic.twitter.com/o3fNTzjvpm
— #SafariNaMarafiki .. (@njooro) January 29, 2017
@KenyaRailways_ @StateHouseKenya this is a joke. Who approved this rubbish ? This is how 1st class should look like. pic.twitter.com/vbJZOpzOyQ
— Pady 🇰🇪 (@Padiemwangi) January 29, 2017
@KenyaRailways_ 😂😂Seriously!! There is no leg room when the seat is turned around, what happened to someone seated behind they may have to fold their legs
— Linda Agola (@AgolaLinda) January 29, 2017
This is normal class in France, this account said
@KenyaRailways_ This is normal class on Thaly's in France. What you have is probably 5th class by any standards. Even buses are cosier. pic.twitter.com/sUxuA2oZ4m
— Francis Gaitho (@Kenyafootball) January 29, 2017
They were compared to buses again
@KenyaRailways_ There's no difference between these 'first class' seats and the seats in a regular Modern coast bus.
— HIGHnessy (@gregjunior_) January 29, 2017
Hehehe. Kenyans seem to forget that we are a poor country.
Let’s assume that we get this here, https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3e2937d143ebcc2f4ca3a6233771f4290cb4723319073a1943d8648df1f118b2.jpg
as our first class. This is one of those examples given by the disgruntled citizens.
These Thalys regular seats (cheapest) cost €85 for a train trip similar to Nairobi – Mombasa, that is Köln Hbf (De) to Paris Nord (Fr).https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/276996e13ec91675d6a8bf9b4512123c1fda63dca33b8dce8b68218fd115f854.png
Cheapest is when you book early. €85 is KES 9,453. Who are these Kenyans that are willing to travel first-class at 9k one way, every time? C’mon. Where are they? Luxury buses (Modern Coast’s ‘Oxygen’, et al) VIP seats cost KES 1,800. Yet they often go unseated on off-peak trips.
If KES 1,800 is somewhat a hurdle, how much more would a first class coach on a train, that seats dozens on a single trip, lose were the amenities made to march developed economies’ standards?
Like Kermit, Kenyans need to wake up and sip some.
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