Chinese experts train local staff members on operation of Chinese-built railway

Chinese instructor Mao Xin (R) works with apprentice Peter Njenga at the Nairobi Station of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway in Nairobi, Kenya, May 23, 2023. Mao works for the transportation department of Africa Star Railway Operation Company. He and his apprentice Peter Njenga have been working together on the dispatching plan to regulate train operation. "We have brought Chinese technical standards to Kenya without reservation, and most apprentices have reached the same operating standards." Mao said that helping Kenya build the first modern railway is a highlight of his career. Peter said that he had learned a lot of professional skills from his instructors, and he would pass on the knowledge to more people in the future.

The Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya has become a flagship project of China-Africa cooperation, a "business card" of Chinese enterprises and a demonstration project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The 480-km rail line, linking the largest port in East Africa, Mombasa, to Kenya's capital Nairobi, was built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and officially opened to traffic in 2017.

The project has gained trust and support from the Kenyan government and people and injected vitality into the country's socio-economic development, since Africa Star Railway Operation Company (AfriStar), the railway operator, has always been committed to ensuring safe operation, boosting the movement of passengers and goods, and enhancing localization of the project.

Chinese experts have been saving no effort in training local staff members and transfer technologies and know-hows to their local counterparts since the railway project started from scratch.

After years of professional training and practice, many Kenyan employees have become skilled workers who can fulfill tasks on their own, and more and more sections of the railway have been independently operated by Kenyan locomotive drivers since February 2022. The mutual diligence also thickened heart-to-heart ties between the Chinese instructors and their Kenyan apprentices.

According to AfriStar, Chinese instructors are going to gradually conclude their missions here and return home, leaving on-premise jobs solely to their Kenyan apprentices, but their friendship would last forever and yield richer fruits in the future.

Chinese instructor Mao Xin (R) and apprentice Peter Njenga (C) work at the Nairobi Station of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway in Nairobi, Kenya, May 23, 2023.