NAIROBI, April 17 (Xinhua) -- On March 20, auditor Jane Wamalwa booked a ticket for herself and her two children on the standard gauge railway train from Nairobi to Mombasa.
Wamalwa, who was making plans for the Easter holiday, did not want to take chances when the period comes, having missed space on the train last December.
The 38-year-old paid 1,000 shillings (10 U.S. dollars) for herself in the economy class and a similar amount for her two children.
For first class, the Madaraka Express train run by the Chinese is charging 30 dollars, making the service the most affordable means of transport to the Coast.
Wamalwa is among tens of Kenyans who will be travelling on the popular train to their holiday destinations at the Coast this Easter, saving big on transport costs.
The train service was fully booked weeks in advance by the bargain hunters, according to the Kenya Railways' acting managing director Philip Mainga.
The train that normally journeys to and from Nairobi to Mombasa daily is fully booked from April 18 to 19 to the coastal city of Mombasa and on April 20 to the capital Nairobi, said Mainga.
However, Mainga observed that they would add more coaches on the train to cater for increased demand for the transport service.
To book the train, one visits the website, or uses a four-digit mobile code to purchase one-way or return ticket and pays using mobile money.
"Why pay up to 10 times more on the plane while you can save greatly using the train? This is the question I asked myself and chose to book in advance because last December I spent a fortune on transport after missing the train," Wamalwa, a government auditor, said Wednesday.
As many other Kenyans, the holidaymaker has booked a return ticket and would travel with the train to Mombasa, its destination, and then head to other places like Malindi and Lamu by road.
Kenyan air fares have risen by over 60 percent ahead of Easter, with holidaymakers heading to Mombasa parting with up to 160 dollars from 120 dollars while those heading to Malindi spending some 180 dollars.
Therefore, using the train and connecting to one's destination helps Kenyans seeking to cut costs save a lot of money on transport.
On the other hand, those headed to Western Kenyan towns, in particular Kisumu, are paying an average of 100 dollars to travel, doubling the normal fare as airlines cash in on increased demand.
"We have added more flights to Kisumu on Thursday and Friday," national carrier Kenya Airways informed customers on social media on Wednesday as it sought to cash in.
Passenger buses have similarly raised their fares to cash in on increased travelling, with those headed to Mombasa and western Kenya routes currently charging up to 15 dollars one way, from an average of 12 dollars. The fares would rise from Thursday through Easter period.
Besides the affordable fares and convenience, what is making Madaraka Express more popular among Kenyans is the ease in booking, with passengers accessing tickets on their phones, according Bernard Mwaso, a consultant with Edell IT Solution in Nairobi.
In 2018, the standard gauge railway train ferried 1.7 million passengers, according to latest economic data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
The number was more than double the passengers the Madaraka train carried from mid-2017 when it started, shows the KNBS data.
