President Museveni tours the newly refurbished Kampala-Mukono railway line
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The Uganda Government has embarked on an all-out campaign to revamp the meter gauge railway network in order to reduce damage on roads due to heavy freight, but also reduce the cost of transport.
While commissioning the rehabilitated Mukono-Kampala meter gauge railway line, President Yoweri Museveni said the current transport system is irrational, and the government has begun to rationalise it to achieve effectiveness and efficiency.
“Due to the economic revival, we now have the pressure for rapid rationalisation of the transport system,” he said, adding that the revived economy has put so many vehicles on the roads.
“These roads can’t cope rationally with the pressure. This is because everything is on the roads; cargo, petroleum products and passengers.”
The 26.8 km Mukono-Kampala railway line has been constructed using concrete sleepers that were manufactured by Imathia Construction factory in Kawolo, Lugazi. This rehabilitated section is designed for speeds of up to 120 km/hour, a significant upgrade from the old infrastructure which allowed for only 20-35 kms/hour.
Invited guests, Turkish officials and Mukono district leaders during the recent launch ceremony
The commuter train currently has a capacity of transporting 650 persons in a single trip.
Network expansion
Museveni further disclosed that the government will support the extension of the railway line from Mukono to Lugazi and to Jinja.
“I will support the taking of the money from the Spanish government to finish this part from here to Lugazi and then to Jinja. But even without external support we are going to fund it because we have no alternative,” he said.
He referred to the road carnage which claims the lives of thousands of Uganda every year.
“Railway transport will help us bring an end to incidents such as one at Kigogwa where people got burnt trying to get free fuel when a petrol tank had overturned. This is because much of the petrol will be transported by pipeline. So, all those trailers will get off the road,” he said.
The President also noted that the railway and water transport are cheaper and that’s why they are better than the road transport.
“It is rational that petroleum products must be transported through the pipelines to and from Mombasa, to and from Dar-es-Salaam and later alone from the refinery in Hoima to the distribution points in Buloba,” he said.
He added that the cargo should go from the roads to the railway.
The newly constructed Mukono Inland Container depot
“We are therefore going to work very hard, get the money so that you can get more locomotives and the wagons and extend to Kyengera, Bujjuko, Port Bell and then this side of Lugazi.”
Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Works said that the commissioned railway line is a vital infrastructure in dealing with the challenges associated with transport.
“We started the commuter train as a trial. When we got this line for Namanve, we said why don’t we try a passenger train instead of waiting for only the goods train and we saw that we could do this early morning and late evening because that’s when most people move in and out of Kampala,” he said.
Katumba further noted that what started as a trial has become a good challenge. “That challenge is how do we increase the services which have moved from Mukono up to Lugazi? Averagely, we move about 650 people on a daily, and the journey takes 40 minutes from here to Kampala.”
He said the railway transport will help users retain some disposable incomes due to pocket-friendly subsidized fees.
President Museveni waves at the dignitaries after the launch
UDB Loan Facility
Al-Hajji Abdallahtifu Wangubo, the Chairperson Board-Uganda Railways Corporation, when construction of the Standard Gauge Railway construction in Tororo, people were expectant about the revival of the passenger commuter train.
He said they have transported over 220,000 passengers along the Kampala-Mukono route since the revival of the system in June 2024.
Al-Hajji Wangubo further said that the railway sub-sector is on a transformation trajectory and that the Government has already acquired a loan from the African Development Bank to undertake the major changes in the meter gauge infrastructure.
