Kenyans Can Now Book Madaraka Express SGR Train Tickets Online (UPDATED)

**Updates at the end of the article

By
Saruni Maina
-
20
Image by Micheal Khateli

UPDATE (8th January, 2018): The official Madaraka Express online booking platform can be found here

As last week hit its eleventh hour, Kenya Railways took it to Twitter to reveal that they will unveil their new online booking and payments platform on Monday the 12 of June, 2017.

 

Well, Monday came and passed and for a moment, we were ready for some PR explanations for the delay, but instead we got silence. Tuesday…Wednesday…Thursday…


One Week Later Spongebob

It’s June 19 and still no word from Kenya Railways. However, they finally updated the website to announce that they have delayed the launch of the platform due to “unavoidable circumstances” and they would be up “in a few hours”.

SGR Online Platform delay


“Few Hours” turned to a lot of hours, which turned to days – no kidding – but finally, Kenyans can now access the online booking platform and book for their ride to and from Mombasa or Nairobi.

How to book Madaraka Express tickets online

  • Access https://traintickets.co.ke/ (for some reason the website does not work fully on Chrome and Safari)
  • You will see a form to select whether you want a return trip or a one way ticket, as well as your travelling dates
  • You will then be required to choose which cabin you want, i.e. economy class or business class.
  • Select your seats
  • Enter your details i.e. name, phone number, email
  • Select your payment method, either cash or M-Pesa
  • Confirm your booking

Unfortunately, you cannot pay for your ticket online, so you will still have to physically visit the train stations or use the cumbersome M-Pesa method.

UPDATE 1: The online booking platform is still under testing. Kenya Railways says that it will launch towards the end of August.

UPDATE 2: So, it’s September and instead of an online booking platform, Kenya Railways gave us a USSD system to book tickets. I guess it is a good step as we continue waiting for the online platform.

UPDATE 3: Kenya Railways finally launched the official online booking platform and it works well – Madaraka Express Train Online Booking Platform Goes Live

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20 COMMENTS

  2. So I saw this and tried booking the ticket online. It all seemed to go well except after I had finished I received the following email “Kindly note that this system is under testing therefore payments cannot be received till further notice. Visit your nearest train station To make a booking.” So I guess that means there’s still no booking online

  4. When I enter my date of travel I keep getting “there is no available train”. This is so pathetic. Spending billions of shillings on a train network and not putting and effective ticketing system in place. They could have at least set up booking offices in Mombasa and Nairobi.

  6. Hope the online booking starts soon brokers have taken advantage of manual System to book when they know they’re not travelling, even the policeman at the station in Mombasa are buying tickets and later sale the same at 1,000 to those who are desperate to travel.

  7. Thanks for this. You’re pretty funny too 😀 Was wondering if I had to go all the way just to book. Cheers!

  9. Does madaraka express have a terminus station in kibwezi or any station close to kibwezi? Kindly respond promptly my family would like to travel today from Nairobi to kibwezi. Thank you Kenya.

  10. I just booked over the phone for myself, husband and 2 small children to travel in one week’s time… It takes on average 30 attempts to get through. After giving all my details the line cut out and no one called me back. After another 30 attempts I finally got through. I have my details and insisted that the seats needed to all be next to each other. I received a text with payment details, I made the mpesa payment and received a confirmation text telling me seat numbers… Surprise surprise, one of us is in carriage 8 and the other 3 of us in carriage 7 with only 2 sheets next to each other. How do I leave a 5 year old and a 2 year old on their own?? I called back, another 30 or so attempts, only to be told that because I have already paid the seat numbers cannot be changed. They really need to introduce an online booking system as soon as possible!! 😬😤😵

  13. Wakenya tutazidi kugongwa tuu na tutaendelea kukuwa wajinga, I am amazed we actually expected Kenya railways to run anything efficiently, yest they are the same ones who run the railways system in this country to the ground, hahahahahahah surely in these days of internet technology when you can Buy even madazi surwa on line you still can’t get a train ticket to Mombassa on a “Supposedly ultramodern” train system online ….. hehehehehehhehe Anyways Kudos to the Jubilee government at least we have the train itself when the electricity does no dissapear at Kibwezi …….. Tunaomba siiirkal… very PROUD of my country

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