The Nyahururu Safari Train

Where this train stands, November 2026. From 12 November 2026 Kenya Railways runs the Nyahururu Safari Train between Gilgil and Nyahururu only, while engineers work on the line through Kibera to Talanta in Nairobi. The notice gives no date for the through train from Nairobi to return. The timetable section has both patterns.

This train goes down into the Great Rift Valley to climb out the other side higher than it went in. It leaves Nairobi westwards, crosses the highlands at Limuru and goes over the edge at Kijabe, at about 2,200 metres, on curves and viaducts down the valley wall. It runs along the floor past Mount Longonot and Lake Naivasha, 1,884 metres above the sea, and at Gilgil it turns off up a branch line that ends beside Thomson's Falls, at 2,360 metres.

That branch is the story. It opened in 1929, carried farm produce, livestock, timber and passengers from the Aberdare country for half a century, and fell out of use in the early 1980s. Kenya Railways rebuilt its 77.8 kilometres from 2021, and on 1 June 2026 the first passenger train in forty-six years left Nairobi for Nyahururu. Kenya Railways sells it as the Nyahururu Safari Train; the line is still commonly known as the Thomson's Falls railway, after the town's old name.

It is an ordinary two-class train, twice a week each way, and a day long: seven hours and fifty minutes from end to end, for KES 600 in economy.

The train leaves at 10:00 from Nairobi's old station in the city centre, the metre-gauge terminus, not the standard-gauge Nairobi Terminus out at Syokimau. It heads west out of the city through Kibera, Satellite and Lenana, then climbs through Dagoretti, Kikuyu and Muguga to Limuru. Nairobi itself stands at 1,795 metres; the line climbs from there to the rim of the Rift.

Down the wall of the Rift

Beyond Uplands and Matathia the line reaches the edge of the Rift Valley. This is the old Uganda Railway main line, and it goes down the eastern wall in a series of curves and steel viaducts past Kijabe, where the valley floor opens out below. The section was washed out by the rains of 2024; Kenya Railways rebuilt the embankments, bridges and drainage and ran its test train over it on 19 January 2026.

On the floor the train calls at Longonot, under the volcano of the same name, then Suswa, Munyu and Naivasha, close to the lake. Morendat and Ilkek follow, and the train reaches Gilgil at 14:00, four hours out of Nairobi.

Up the branch

At Gilgil the train stands for a quarter of an hour, then leaves the main line and turns north onto the branch. This is the 77.8 kilometres that were rebuilt between 2021 and 2026. It climbs out of the valley onto the Nyandarua plateau west of the Aberdare range, reaching Ol Kalou, the county capital, at 16:15, and Nyahururu at 17:50.

On board

This is a working train, not a tourist one. It carries economy and first class, and the line also carries freight: the first train on the reopened branch, on 31 May 2026, was a load of government fertiliser for the cereal depots at Ol Kalou and Nyahururu. Kenya Railways does not publish which locomotive works the passenger train; its launch photographs show locomotive 7504 at the head of it. Bring food and water for the day.

The return leaves Nyahururu at 10:00 on Wednesday and Sunday and reaches Nairobi at 17:50.

From 12 November 2026 the train runs between Gilgil and Nyahururu only, for engineering works on the Nairobi–Kibera–Talanta section, with no end date announced. Press reports of Kenya Railways' notice give these times; they differ on the days, one listing Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and another every day, so confirm with Kenya Railways before travelling.

	Gilgil–Nyahururu
Gilgil	depart 08:00
Nyahururu	arrive 11:50
Nyahururu	depart 15:00
Gilgil	arrive 18:35

The full service, when it runs from Nairobi, is twice a week each way: Nairobi to Nyahururu on Tuesday and Friday, Nyahururu to Nairobi on Wednesday and Sunday, both leaving at 10:00. Kenya Railways confirmed the twice-weekly pattern in June and July 2026.

Read the return column from the bottom up. Both directions take seven hours and fifty minutes. The train also calls at the stations between Nairobi and Gilgil — Kibera, Kikuyu, Limuru, Kijabe, Longonot, Naivasha and others — for which Kenya Railways publishes fares but not times.

Times as published by Kenya Railways in June 2026, read November 2026. Changes are posted as public notices: Kenya Railways · Services (opens in a new tab).

Tickets are sold at Nairobi Central Station and through Kenya Railways' own booking channels. Fares are fixed by station pair and class: the full run from Nairobi to Nyahururu is KES 600 in economy and KES 1,300 in first. While the train is cut back, Gilgil to Nyahururu is KES 150 in economy.

The cheapest ticket on the line is KES 50, Ol Kalou to Nyahururu, which says what the train is for: a local service for the towns it reconnects. Fares as published by Kenya Railways, June 2026, read November 2026.

No rail pass covers Kenya. The country belongs to no international scheme and sells no national multi-journey ticket, so every trip to Nyahururu is a single bought from Kenya Railways.

A pass would have nothing to save in any case. The full run costs KES 600 in economy and KES 1,300 in first, and the branch alone KES 150. What is scarce is the train, not the money: two a week each way, so plan around the days, not the fare.

With two trains a week each way, a stop on the way means a few days off the train or a road connection onward. Naivasha is the stop for the lake, Hell's Gate and Crescent Island; Gilgil is the junction, close to Lake Elmenteita and the hand axes at Kariandusi. Nyahururu, at the end, is a night or two at the falls: the train arrives at ten to six and does not leave again until ten the next morning or later in the week.

The train reaches Nyahururu at ten to six in the evening and the next one back leaves at ten the following morning, so a night at the top of the line is part of the trip. The lodge below faces the falls.

No prices, grades or ratings are given below, because none have been verified. The card says where the house stands and what it says about itself.

Planning this trip and stuck on something, or spotted a time, fare or detail that has changed? Send us a message about The Nyahururu Safari Train. We read every one, and we update this page when something has changed.