'Roadmap' to a modern railway sector?

SATURDAY VISION

When President Yoweri Museveni recently hosted his counterparts, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, one promise that came out of their communiqué was a modern railway sector. John Semakula and Brian Mayanja find out the possibility of this project.

The three presidents want a route that can link Kenya to its landlocked neighbours, Uganda and Rwanda. Both countries depend on roads for their imports from the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

According to the Ministry of Works and Transport, plans to purchase a chain of modern trains are in place. These are expected in the country in 2016. The trains will also provide passenger services in the city.

Apollo Kashanku, a senior transport economist in charge of railway in the works ministry, told Saturday Vision that Uganda plans to do away with old trains after 2016.

“We shall purchase new trains and everything else will be new. By that time, the Kampala-Malaba-Mombasa route will be complete. The trains in Uganda will match the rail technologies in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania,” he explained.

Kashanku added that all the East African countries are in the process of upgrading their railway lines to gauge standards, using the same technology.

Passenger trains

Kashanku said light passenger trains would be bought to provide passenger services in a bid to decongest the city.

A new railway line will be built between Kampala and Entebbe to ease access to Entebbe International Airport.

The other old railway routes, which are currently dilapidated, will be revamped, he added. Among them is the Tororo-Pakwach-Gulu line, which was recently rehabilitated by the Rift Valley Railways (RVR).

Another line will be extended to the Albertine region to transport oil materials. The route from Mombasa will extend to Kasese and Kigali, through Kampala.

Why the delay?

Abraham Byandala, the Minister of Works and Transport, said Uganda had delayed to develop the railway because it lacked funds.

“Investing in railway transport is very expensive. We started with roads and have put a lot of money into that. But, we need to invest in railway transport in order to protect the roads,” he said.

The minister said the Kampala-Malaba and Tororo-Pakwach-Nimule routes would each cost $3b.

He said the Government prefered a public-private partnership in building the railway.

“Currently, we are talking to potential investors in the sector and drawing engineering designs for the routes. It will be complete by September,” Byandala noted.

Kashanku said the ministry would use the designs to woo donors.

What does this mean?

The new technology of standard rails is expected to reduce risks of accidents at crossing points and time of moving from one point to another.

The current trains reportedly travel at an average speed of between 20kms and 50kms per hour and carry an axel load of less than 10 tonnes.

“The modern trains will be moving at an average speed of 120kms per hour and will carry an axle load of 25 tonnes. The development will significantly reduce the cost of doing business across the borders and create jobs,” Kashanku explained.

However, he could not estimate the number of new jobs that would be created in the sector, saying it was still too early.

Railway master plan

Kashanku said in 2008, the East African Community drew up a railway master plan, aimed at connecting all the East African countries. The ministry is now implementing some of the recommendations, which include constructing a port on Lake Victoria at Bukasa, Wakiso district.

The Government also wants to revamp Port Bell in Luzira. South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo will also be connected to the East African region, through Uganda, but under different concessions.

Uganda has already signed a concession with Sudan to extend the line from Gulu to Juba. The concession is pending ratification.

In the first three decades of post-independent Uganda, railway transport was crucial in doing business. The railway also made transport cheaper for students, who travelled to study upcountry. But the late 1980s saw the railway collapse.

Parallel railway lines

A senior official in the works ministry said the Government had finally settled for a parallel railway line. This means that the narrow gauge and the standard gauge will run parallel to each other to ensure that RVR business on the narrow gauge is not disrupted.

Kashanku said the basis of the standard gauge line came after an agreement between the Kenyan and Ugandan presidents in 2009, and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding last year.

Both countries are now working on the design, but Uganda may lag behind in developing its side of the railway because of financial challenges. This month, RVR embarked on revamping the Malaba-Jinja-Kampala railway line, expected to cost $12.5m.

Kashanku said after drawing the designs, they would reach out to potential donors for support.