Roundup: Kenya's women trained to steer standard gauge railway trains

Kenya's newly constructed Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is a first in a country where millions of citizens are seeing for the first time construction of a railroad.

Set for launch in June, the railway continues to set many other firsts in the East African nation.

For the first time in the history of the country, women will be part of the dozens of drivers expected to drive the new SGR trains after completing their courses in China.

At least seven women, according to Kenya's The Standard newspaper, are part of a group of Kenyan students the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), the SGR contractor, sponsored to undertake a railway course at China's Baoji Railway Technical College.

Wendy Kathambi, 26, and Alice Mugure Gitau, 27 are among those in the programme, and they are ready to serve the country with their new skills, the newspaper said in a report published on Tuesday.

Kathambi and Gitau took part in the inaugural test-drive of the SGR conducted last month, which saw them drive passenger trains at the speed of 105km per hour from Nairobi to Sultan Hamud and back.

When the SGR trains would be up and running, the locomotives would travel at an average speed of 120km per hour.

"We were seven students in our class and we were taken through many lessons, including light diesel locomotive maintenance," Gitau said as she dispelled the notion that some jobs are for men.

Women, according to them, can drive trains and even planes, just the way men do, if not even better.

"We were all born with capacities to perform all duties. I believe I can achieve anything if I set my mind on. One can become what they wish," said Gitau, who initially had training in procurement.

After completing her procurement course, Gitau studied a Bachelor's degree in Chinese Language and Culture.

"The course entailed a six-month session in Kenya and one year in China. I was later hired by a Chinese firm as a translator at the Railway Training Institute (RTI) in Nairobi. It was while there that I learnt of the SGR training programme and enrolled for the course," she said.

Kathambi said joining the men-dominated sector has always been her desire and she is happy that she finally achieved it.

"This is what gives me satisfaction after developing interest in new technology as far as railway development is concerned. It is a pretty new field and Kenya does not have adequate manpower to drive the rail transport," she told the newspaper.

She was studying a Higher Diploma in Electrical Engineering at the RTI in Nairobi, furthering her study as she holds a Diploma in Electrical Engineering.

"When the SGR training programme started, I opted for it," said Kathambi. Gitau said the fact that the training was carried out in English made work easy for them.

"The training was largely practical and this made it very interesting. We were taught how to drive a locomotive. We also had lessons on maintenance," she said.

Kenya Railways Managing Director Atanas Maina said he was happy about the programme and how Kenyans would benefit, according to the newspaper report.

"We have young Kenyan women engineers in the project. We want to expand the same into operations and maintenance in line with government's directive," Maina said.

"This is the first time in the history of Kenya to have women taking charge of locomotive operations. The trainees have done well and I know they will do a good job," he added. Endit