Nairobi Railway City takes shape: 438 acres, six precincts and 112 acres for housing
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Kenya Railways has set out fresh details of the Sh30 billion Railway City plan, dividing 438 acres around Nairobi Central Station into six precincts and allocating the largest share of land to affordable and sustainable housing.
Kenya Railways presented new details of the Nairobi Railway City redevelopment at a stakeholder validation workshop on 19 October, outlining six development zones intended to bring public transport, housing, offices, retail and leisure together on approximately 438 acres around Nairobi Central Station.
The land in question takes in railway yards, workshops and other railway-related properties. Rather than relocating the railway, the master plan places it at the centre of the development, as part of a wider strategy to expand Nairobi's central business district by making better use of land already owned or controlled by Kenya Railways.
The plan divides the site into six precincts: Central Station Front, Central Station Back, Market Core, West Core, a Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Core, and Affordable Sustainable Housing. Central Station Front will hold the main transport interchange, linked to the standard gauge railway, the metre gauge railway, bus rapid transit and pedestrian and cycling routes, while the adjacent commercial zone is earmarked for offices, retail, logistics and mixed-use buildings.
Affordable and sustainable housing has been allocated roughly 112 acres, the largest single share of land under the plan. The MICE precinct is planned around conference facilities, hotels and public spaces, and the West Core is expected to accommodate education, student housing, innovation and cultural activities. A separate proposal covers a 15,000-seat indoor arena and entertainment district; in April 2026 President William Ruto witnessed a lease agreement between Kenya Railways and Zaria Group for the arena, which the government described as an anchor project for Railway City.
The transport component remains the centrepiece. Planning documents envisage a modern multimodal station with nine platforms, improved passenger access and better connections between rail and other public transport, built around projected demand of 400,000 passengers daily by 2030 and 600,000 by 2045. Those figures are projections rather than current passenger numbers.
The redevelopment has been described in recent reporting as a project worth approximately Sh30 billion. The UK government has separately valued Railway City at up to £150 million, about Sh26 billion at the conversion used in its 2025 announcement, and has committed £2 million in technical assistance to help structure, phase and manage delivery. London has also said Kenya was considering potential financing through UK Export Finance, but the final financing package for all components has not been publicly itemised, so the full Sh30 billion should not be read as a confirmed British grant.