Kenya Chinese Chamber of Commerce chairman Zhuo Wu said most of his members are traders and owners of cargo, so the signing of the agreement will go a long way in easing their operations.

"The traders want efficient and fast service and SGR can give us that opportunity,” he said. “We are therefore grateful to Kenya Railways for accepting to sign the agreement. We now hope to get better services, noting that railway is cheaper and faster than road transportation.”

Huang Xionglin, Deputy General Manager of Transportation and Marketing of Railway Operation Company of Kenya, said that as the operators of the SGR, his company could guarantee KR and Cargocare a stable, safe, efficient and good service for cargo transportation.

“If any party has issues regarding our operations, let us know and our team which on is stand-by will try to resolve it as soon as possible," he said.

The Embakasi ICD offers a one-stop-center, where all government agencies involved in the cargo clearing process - Kenya Railways, Kenya Ports Authority, and Kenya Revenue Authority - are housed in one place, thus enabling an efficient system for the clearance and forwarding of cargo.

"The efficacy provided at ICD will enable cargo owners to access their goods faster than they are currently doing via road," said Maina.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Ksh22 billion ($212.3 million) upgraded inland container depot in December 2017, paving the way for the launch of standard gauge railway SGR cargo services in January 1 2018.

The container depot, which was upgraded by the China Road and Bridge Corp (CRBC), is part of phase 2A of the SGR project. The expansion of the depot was launched in May 2016 and completed in June 2017, 12 months ahead of schedule.

The minimum cost of transporting a fully loaded 20-foot container via SGR is Ksh19,800 ($191), at a minimum distance of 200 kilometers.

The maximum cost of transporting a fully loaded 20-foot container has been set at Ksh49,500 ($478) for the full distance from the port of Mombasa to the Nairobi depot.