Kenya Railways has announced the temporary suspension of the Madaraka Express 10 pm passenger service from Mombasa to Nairobi.
The popular high-speed train service provides a vital overnight connection between Kenya’s coastal city and the capital. However, the unexpectedly serious technical fault affecting the 10 pm schedule means the service will remain suspended until further notice.
Kenya Railways has apologised to affected passengers and reassured the public that the issue is being resolved with urgency.
“We regret to notify members of the public that due to technical issues, the Madaraka Express 10 pm passenger train from Mombasa to Nairobi has been suspended,” read the notice posted on X on Sunday, July 6, 2025. Safety remains the company’s top priority.
Summer Tides Festival attendees blocked
This travel disruption coincides with an incident described by human rights activist Hussein Khalid, who revealed that hundreds of young attendees from Nairobi returning from the Diani Summer Tide Festival were stopped by police at the Dongo-Kundu bypass near Likoni, Mombasa.
According to Khalid, officers informed the youths they could not proceed to catch the 2 pm SGR (Standard Gauge Railway) train back to Nairobi, citing concerns they would attend planned Saba Saba protests on Monday, July 7, 2025.
“Now police are curtailing freedom of movement! … They were to catch the 2pm SGR to Nairobi, but they have been stopped by police … awaiting ‘orders from above’,” Khalid posted on his X account.
Rising tensions
This heavy-handed policing comes amid growing tension as Kenya approaches the 35th anniversary of the Saba Saba protests, historic demonstrations that helped usher in multiparty democracy in 1990.
The government has insisted July 7, 2025 will be treated as a normal workday, with Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku warning civil servants against skipping work.
Kenneth Mwenda
Kenneth Mwenda is a digital writer with over five years of experience. He graduated in February 2022 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from The Co-operative University of Kenya. He has written news and feature stories for platforms such as Construction Review Online, Sports Brief, Briefly News, and Criptonizando. In 2023, he completed a course in Digital Investigation Techniques with AFP. He joined K24 Digital in May 2025. For inquiries, he can be reached at [email protected].
