{"id":7313,"date":"2026-01-21T14:12:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T14:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/?p=7313"},"modified":"2026-02-10T05:58:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T05:58:30","slug":"stop-that-train-i-wanna-get-on-morning-rush-hour-in-nairobi-or-how-not-to-miss-the-sgr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldoftravelling.com\/blog\/?p=7313","title":{"rendered":"Stop That Train, I Want To Get On!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nairobi to Mombasa Train. Departure time: 08:00. Arrival time: 14:00. Distance: Approximately 280 miles. Ticket price: 1,500 shillings (\u00a39.00).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday 19th January 2026. Swiss-Belinn Hotel, Nairobi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many ways to start a travel day. Calmly. Organised. Confident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was not one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My alarm went off at 04:30, which already felt unnecessarily aggressive. Breakfast followed at 06:00, checkout at 06:30, and by then I was feeling quietly smug. I had plenty of time to catch my train. All under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except\u2026 it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tried to summon an Uber on my phone. No nearby train station appeared on the app. Mild panic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, the hotel receptionist \u2014 calm, competent, and clearly used to tourists unraveling \u2014 came to the rescue and helped me locate the correct station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to an error entirely of my own making, I had confidently identified and noted the wrong Nairobi train station. The one I\u2019d selected was the old train station \u2014 a mere 10 minutes and 3.5 miles away. Unfortunately, the actual SGR station was a full 12 miles away, or as Nairobi traffic prefers to call it: a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty minutes in non-rush-hour traffic, they say. This, however, was rush hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My best hope of getting to the station on time was to use a motorbike taxi – a Boda Boda as they call it here in Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Boda Boda was \u2018frozen\u2019 on the Uber map on my phone. It moved slightly, hesitated, dithered, and generally behaved like someone who had second thoughts about life. I cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second Boda Boda – a hero – he arrived at the hotel in a flash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need to be at the Nairobi to Mombasa train station in half an hour.\u201d I told him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took one look at the time and launched us into Nairobi traffic like it was a competitive sport. Swerving, accelerating, threading gaps that definitely didn\u2019t exist five seconds earlier. Meanwhile, hanging onto for dear life, my mind was doing laps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should have left earlier. You\u2019re never going to make this train. What exactly is Plan B going to look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miraculously, we arrived at the station at 07:20. I tipped him handsomely, partly out of gratitude and partly because I suspected he\u2019d just shaved years off his life expectancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came security. And more security. And\u2026 even more security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First: bags through an X-ray machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second: bags placed on a low metal platform with about 20 other hopeful passengers while two sniffer dogs inspected the lineup like very serious professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third: another X-ray machine \u2014 I guess as a precaution!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth: ticket counter, where a lovely lady took my phone number and reservation reference and printed off my ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good news: a window seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passport check. Ticket check. Another X-ray machine (at this point I was wondering if I\u2019d accidentally booked a flight).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, through the ticket stile, down the tunnel, turn left, Carriage 9, Seat 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had made it. I let out a huge sigh of relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gentleman sat opposite me \u2014 an Indian chap \u2014 immediately began a phone call at full conversational volume, clearly unconcerned by concepts such as \u201cinside voice\u201d. This continued, intermittently, for the whole of the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To complete the scene, the windows were dirty, the sun was on our side, and my cinematic coastal train views were\u2026 optimistic at best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was on the train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had not missed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Mombasa was calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes travel isn\u2019t about smooth planning and perfect execution. Sometimes it\u2019s about sprinting through security, trusting a stranger with your fate in traffic, and laughing afterwards \u2014 preferably while the train is already moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mombasa, here we come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Economy Class Carriage – Nairobi to Mombasa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Economy Class Carriage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to an error entirely of my own making, I had confidently saved the wrong Nairobi train station in my note book. The one I\u2019d selected was the old station \u2014 a mere 10 minutes and 3.5 miles away. Unfortunately, the actual SGR station was a full 12 miles away, or as Nairobi traffic prefers to call it: a lifetime. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[338],"class_list":["post-7313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kenya","tag-sgr-nairobi-to-mombasa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t