Classic route
Madaraka Express
Nairobi → Mombasa · Kenya
Kenya’s standard-gauge flagship crosses Tsavo on elevated spans built so elephants pass underneath.
How this line was checked
- The 473 km this route shares with OpenStreetMap relation 7190306 is drawn from that relation's own nodes, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: 97.8% of this line lies within 250 m of real track (median 3 m); the longest stretch away from it is 7 km
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: Kenya Railways — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Madaraka Express?
The Madaraka Express runs 472 km from Nairobi to Mombasa.
How long does the Madaraka Express take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 5 h for the 472 km. That is an average of 94 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 120 km/h.
Who runs the Madaraka Express?
Kenya Railways, with SGR coaches.
How old is the Madaraka Express?
The line has been in service since 2017. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
More classic routes
- LNER Azuma
The Flying Scotsman’s route since 1862: and where Mallard set the never-beaten steam record of 203 km/h in 1938.
Wikipedia ↗ - Alfa Pendular
A tilting Pendolino leaning through the curves of the 19th-century Linha do Norte between Portugal’s two great cities.
Wikipedia ↗ - EIP Pendolino
Rides Poland’s 1970s Central Main Line (CMK), engineered decades ahead of its time and now being upgraded to 250 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Railjet
Follows the old Orient Express alignment down the Danube plain: centre to centre faster than any flight.
Wikipedia ↗
More train routes in Kenya.