The Kenyan government on Saturday signed a new agreement that will extend the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway (??SGR?) line to Naivasha, a town lies about 120 kms northwest of the capital.

The deal was signed by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBR) and Kenya Railways during a Cabinet Steering Committee on SGR meeting chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The extension of the SGR will open up Naivasha, the country's geothermal production centre, for increased economic activities, especially farming.

The China-funded SGR is a Vision 2030 flagship project in Kenya. It will significantly reduce the transportation costs and save time, and have a direct impact on cost of commodities and generally ease cost of doing business.

The 472km railway is expected to cut by half the time passengers take to travel from ?#?Mombasa? to ?#?Nairobi? from the current 8 hours to about 4.5 hours. Freight trains will reduce the time it takes to move cargo between the two cities to eight hours.

CRBC, the Chinese contractor, has by far employed more than 25,000 local workers and trained over 16,000 Kenyan engineers and technicians since the start of the construction in January this year.