Railway freight integration and supply chain resilience of Kenya railways

Abstract

Railway freight integration plays a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency, connectivity, and competitiveness of the transport sector by enabling seamless movement of goods across different transport modes, reducing logistics costs, and improving supply chain reliability. Effective integration of railway freight systems strengthens national and regional trade linkages, thereby contributing to economic growth and sustainable transportation. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of railway freight integration on the supply chain resilience of Kenya Railways. The specific railway freight integration aspects that were considered in the study comprised of intermodal connectivity, scheduling coordination, cargo handling efficiency and information systems integration. The theories supporting the study comprised of Network Theory, Just-In-Time Theory, Resource-Based View Theory, and Information Processing Theory. A descriptive-correlational research design was employed in the study. The target population comprised of 106 senior officials derived from Kenya Railways, Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association, Kenya Transporters Association and Kenya Ports Authority. A purposive sampling technique was employed to include a sample 106 respondents from the selected senior officials. Data collection was through structured questionnaires. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in analyzing the collected data. Descriptive statistics comprised of means and standard deviations while inferential statistics comprised of correlation and regression. The statistics were generated through Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The results of the study were displayed in the form of tables and figures. The study established that railway freight integration aspects comprising of intermodal connectivity, cargo handling efficiency and information systems integration positively and significantly correlates with supply chain resilience of Kenya Railways. Additionally, intermodal connectivity had the influence on supply chain resilience followed by cargo handling efficiency, and finally information system integration. Scheduling coordination however have an insignificant influence on supply chain resilience. The study concluded that railway freight integration influences the supply chain resilience positively. The study provides recommendations to the management of Kenya Railways to enhance the railway integration practices to enhance the levels of resilience in the supply chain.