So, the Standard Gauge Railway is about to cut through the world-famous Nairobi National Park, the only national park in the world just in the precinct of a city. Amazing!!

Environmentalists and wildlife activists have been staging a scathing opposition against the intended "invasion" of the park by the ruling government, as the SGR coils it's way across the park which covers an area of 117.21 square kilometres (28,963 acres).

Upon completion, the modern railway line is envisioned to connect Mombasa, through Nairobi, to Malaba on the border with Uganda and continue onward to Kampala, Uganda.

It will further run to Kigali in Rwanda with a branch line to Juba in South Sudan. Branch lines along the route will extend to Kisumu, Kasese and Pakwach.

The 609km-long Mombasa-Nairobi rail section is projected to be complete by December 2017, a year from now.

While at it, the first shipment of locomotives that will use the SGR has been commissioned in China for delivery to Kenya.

"Passenger train will have a speed of 120kms/hr and a capacity carry of over 1000 passengers - It will take Four Hours and Thirty Minutes non-stop from Mombasa to Nairobi.Freight (Cargo) trains have a speed of 80KM/hr with a Cargo capacity of 4000 tonnes (That is 218 twenty foot containers which is equivalent to 108 trucks off the roads in 8 hours.) Arrival of Coaches Mid January to End of January 2016," says Dennis Itumbi.

They are not the electric ones like in the photo above, they are said to be quite fast!! But they look old-fashioned though!!!

Take a look at the locomotives below, which have been likened to "zile bus za OTC":