Female drivers take the lead on Kenya's new railway

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta became the first official passenger to ride on the newly constructed Mombasa-Nairobi Railway on Wednesday, in a train with two of the country's first female drivers at its helm.

The drivers were part of a cohort of seven who received 50 days' training in simulators at Baoji Railway Technician College in Shaanxi province earlier this year, the Hubei Daily reported on Thursday.

After they returned to Kenya in March, their teacher Tu Zhuxin had less than two months to show them how to drive a real train instead of a simulator.

"No doubt it's been a challenge for me to teach them, as they had no experience before," said Tu, who previously worked as a driver for the Wuhan Railway Bureau in Xiangyang, Hubei province, and has tutored new drivers for more than 10 years.

Initially, Tu said he was worried about making himself understood because of the language barrier, but was surprised to find that more than half the drivers could speak Chinese.

The female drivers spent at least five days a week training, waking up between 5 am and 6 am every day and returning home at 8 pm, with only one hour at noon for rest.

One of them was quoted as saying that she believed both men and women could do the job, and no matter who drove on opening day, they have all helped make history.

The new railway, which links the port of Mombasa with the capital of Nairobi, was built using Chinese technology.

Jiang Chenglong contributed to this story