The extension of the 120km Nairobi-Naivasha Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will now be completed in August and not June as earlier projected.
The delay will cost the government extra cash with the blame on the compensation wrangles around the five-kilometre section in Ngong area.
This came as it emerged that 90 per cent of the works on the modern railway line was complete with various passengers terminus being ready.
Earlier, the acting Kenya Railways Cooperation Managing Director Philip Mainga had said the project was nearing completion with five newly built stations at Ongata Rongai, Ngong, Mai Mahiu, Suswa and Nachu.
“We have made substantial progress in the construction of phase 2A of the SGR and so far we have laid track on an 86 kilometres stretch. We expect the project to be complete by June this year,” Mainga said then.
According to Chinese Communications Construction Company communication officer Jasper Lui, they were optimistic that the row in Ngong would be resolved soon.
Addressing the press after touring the Mai Mahiu and Suswa stations, he said they were working with the State agencies and the affected persons to resolve the issue.
“We expect the railway line to be complete by August depending on the compensation row in Ngong,” he said.
During the visit, the officer retaliated that the railway was safe despite been constructed in an area where volcanic activity was still active.
Lui said other earthquake resistant measures incorporated in the construction of the rail included building the railway track on a wider sub-grade — the foundation on which the track is built on.
“The sub-grade and slope in the SGR Phase 2A are relatively higher and wider in comparison to Phase 1 from Mombasa to Nairobi,” he said.
The company head of design Xue Zhiming said they had involved geologists and other earthquake experts before the project kicked off.
“When we began planning the construction of the SGR Phase 2A, we mobilized many seasoned geologists from the renowned China Seismological Bureau and to conduct a thorough geological survey in the seismic belt along the railway line,” he said.
“In the unlikely event of the rail corridor experiencing an earthquake similar to the 2008 Chinese Great Sichuan earthquake, it is guaranteed the railway line and other supporting infrastructure will not be destroyed.”