NAIROBI, Feb. 10 -- After two years of searching, Sharif Mutunga finally got a job as a laborer for the ongoing construction of Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway.

He is one of the lucky 8,000 Kenyans who have secured employment at different sections of the 472 kilometer railway that will run from the coastal town of Mombasa to Nairobi.

Mutunga, who works at the Mtito Andei section about 200 kilometers south of Nairobi, got the job after responding to a employment advertisement.

"The pay is better compared to that paid for similar work," he told Xinhua.

Mtito Andei was once a sleepy town before construction work began on the railway.

However, the place is now a busy town thanks to the numerous job opportunities that has attracted hundreds of migrants.

China Roads and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has been contracted to construct the 3.8-billion-U.S.-dollar railway line that will be one of the largest infrastructure projects in Kenya's history.

Despite Kenya's impressive economic growth rate over the past decade, it still has a huge unemployment problem.

Every year at least one million youths enter the job market but only a fraction can secure gainful employment.

Mutunga joined the CRBC in June 2014 and was put on probation for three months.

"I have now signed a contract to work for the infrastructure firm until the project is complete," he said.

As the only breadwinner in his family, Mutunga is now able to pay school fees for his younger siblings.

"Due to the steady income, the job has changed my perspective on life and I am optimistic that my future will be bright," he said.

The new Nairobi to Mombasa railway will replace the existing railway line that was built by the colonial administration over 100 years ago.

It is expected to completely transform the economic landscape of Kenya and cement the nation of over 41 million as the economic hub of East and Central Africa.

CRBC has already put up 21 campsites along the railway route, each of which will oversee the construction of specific segments of the railway.

The campsites are expected to breathe life into all the towns that the railway will pass through.

During its peak, the railway is expected to offer employment to at least 30,000 Kenyans.

Another beneficiary of the project is Elvis Kagiha. He graduated from university back in 2010 and has been without steady employment ever since.

Kagiha told Xinhua that the railway project came at the right time. "Thanks to my job as a safety officer on the railway project, I am now able to make a comfortable living," he said.

He noted that the Chinese firm is very strict about safety for its staff as well as members of the public, adding that since the project began about six months ago, there have been no major incident as due to CRBC's pro-active approach.

The safety officer hopes to apply what he has learnt from the Chinese work ethic to start his own firm in the future.