The history of railways in Kenya started in the colonial era, in 1896, when the construction of the first line was started. It was called the Uganda Railway because of its final destination, although all of the railway was located inside the territory of today Kenya.
Originally built by the British, the line aimed to provide Uganda with access to the sea (hence the other end of the line was in the port of Mombasa). But also there was another reason why British wanted that line built, and it was actually not a sinister one. The Brussels Conference Act of 1890 obligated the undersigning countries to undertake anti-slavery measures, and building Uganda Railway was one of them. Using the line, troops could be easily transported from Mombasa into the African Great Lakes region and thus fight with the slaves traders.
Construction of the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge began at Mombasa and reached Lake Victoria, 1,060-kilometre (660 miles) away, in 1901. Apart from transport of goods, the line (sometimes called the Lunatic Express for being expensive and seemingly unnecessary) was also popular among the safari tourists in the early 20th century. The Ghost and the Darkness (starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas) movie was based around events that took place while the Uganda Railway was built.
The original line, from Mombasa to Kisumu on the east coast of Lake Victoria, was in use until 2012. Unfortunately, since the independence of Kenya, the line has gone into disarray due to poor or non-existent maintenance. The later build branches that connect Mombasa to Uganda are now in a process of being rebuilt as a standard-gauge railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) as a cooperation of Kenya Railways Corporation and Chinese government.
Of course, the main goal of Chinese investment is the transport of resources to the ports, but at the same time the passenger transport might be revived. Currently, the passenger trains between Mombasa and the capital Nairobi are fully operational, while the other lines are still in the process of being rebuilt and modernized.
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All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
As Patch is abducted from his hometown, his best friend devotes her days to finding him.