The official launch of the China-funded and built standard gauge railway in Kenya on Wednesday, which links its port city of Mombasa with the capital Nairobi, marks the beginning of a new era for the East African country's industrialization and economic development.

Moreover, it is a pivotal part of China's Belt and Road Initiative that encompasses a grand infrastructure connectivity plan to build a high-speed railway network that will eventually link Kenya with Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

With a designed speed of 120 kilometers per hour for passenger trains and 80 km/h for freight trains, the 480-km railway replaces the narrow-gauge line built more than a century ago during British colonial rule.