Police were forced to shoot into the air to disperse a group that had attacked stones at a train in Mukuru Kwa Njenga area, Nairobi.
This was the second incident in which goons had attacked a train snaking through the slum to Syokimau and to Lukenya area.
In a separate incident, a minor who was on board the train was slightly injured and taken to Nairobi West Hospital for treatment when goons attacked a train in the same area.
During the incident, four windowpanes of the said train were damaged.
It is not clear what was motivating the attacks by locals on the train.
The goons attacked police who had escorted the train to the area.
This prompted the management of the train to suspend services as they engaged authorities to establish the motive and address it.
“We wish to inform our customers and the general public that we have suspended train services along the Syokimau and Lukenya route,” Kenya Railways said in a statement.
“This is due to the volatile security situation arising from consistent attacks on our trains passing through Mukuru kwa Njenga, by rowdy individuals who are barricading rail tracks and stoning the train.”
The gravity of the situation was underscored by two recent incidents.
On Wednesday evening, the Lukenya bound train was targeted in an attack at 6:00 pm, followed by another assault Thursday at 11:00 am, when a train carrying 520 pupils was stoned.
“We wish to reiterate that the safety of our passengers remains paramount to us,” Kenya Railways said.
The services however resumed on Friday evening.
This was after officials toured the area and talked to the parties concerned.
This was after Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen visited the area on July 13.
Meanwhile, police are holding two suspects after they were found with stolen 47 metal rods from the meter gauge railway line in Matito Andei area, Makueni.
The two were found stealing the same from a meter gauge railways yard in the area.
The men had stolen the same and kept them in their houses, police said.
A guard on duty found the rods in one of the suspect’s houses before he led them to the second one where more were found.
Cases of stealing and vandalism of the rods are rampant in the area.
This affects the operations of the railway at large.
