The Kenyan government has announced ambitious plans to extend its Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from the coastal port town of Lamu directly to the Ethiopian border. The mega-project is a cornerstone of the broader Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Program, an infrastructure initiative aimed at repositioning East Africa as a dominant continental trade hub.
The announcement was made by Mohamed Daghar, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Transport, during the 62nd graduation ceremony of the Railway Training Institute in Nairobi, where 1,135 students received diplomas in various transport and railway disciplines. Addressing the graduates and stakeholders, Daghar emphasized that the expansion will provide Kenya with unprecedented access to one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies.
“There are plans to build this railway from Lamu all the way to Ethiopia, which will connect us with a massive market of around 50 to 60 million people in the border and surrounding regions, and onwards to South Sudan,” Daghar stated.The proposed expansion is a critical component of a massive, 2,900-kilometer SGR network planned under the LAPSSET framework. Beyond the rail lines, the corridor is designed as an all-encompassing multi-modal transport network. It includes crude oil and refined petroleum pipelines, modern highways, and interconnected logistics hubs specifically designed to eliminate trade barriers and facilitate seamless cross-border economic integration.
The entire network anchors at Lamu Port on Manda Bay. While three deep-water berths are currently operational and handling cargo, the long-term master plan envisions an expansive 32 deep-water berths to accommodate large-scale international maritime shipping. Other interconnected projects in the pipeline include the Lamu-Ijara-Garissa highway, the proposed High Grand Falls Dam on the Tana River, and futuristic resort cities planned for Lamu, Isiolo, and the Lake Turkana region.
In tandem with the northern expansion toward Ethiopia, Daghar reiterated Kenya’s commitment to finalizing its western transport networks. He noted that plans are simultaneously underway to extend the SGR to South Sudan. This western link relies heavily on regional synchronization, specifically the completion of Uganda’s Kampala–Malaba SGR section and Kenya’s corresponding Naivasha–Kisumu–Malaba links. Once these segments are structurally joined, the entire East African hinterland will be bound by a high-capacity railway network.
According to Ministry official statements, this infrastructural push aligns directly with President William Ruto’s primary economic agenda, which prioritizes heavy investment in transport connectivity to stimulate domestic productivity and create jobs. By linking the Indian Ocean to the landlocked economies of Ethiopia and South Sudan, Kenya aims to secure its position as the primary logistical gateway for East and Central Africa.
