_________________

TRANSPORT 

The rehabilitation of the 375-km Tororo-Gulu railway line is on course, Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) has said.

A consignment of railway sleepers for the rehabilitation of the Tororo-Gulu railway line has reached the Port of Mombasa from China.

“The contractor commenced the works in Augst last year and by January had covered about 30% of the works. This is a 2-year project. The works are on course,” URC Head of Communication and Public Relations John Linnon Sengendo told New Vision on Thursday, February 29, 2024. 

This 2-year railway project is implemented by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and funded by government of Uganda to cost sh199.9 billion as part of the efforts to increase the stock and quality of strategic infrastructure to accelerate Uganda’s competitiveness and create the integrated transport infrastructure and services in the country.

John Linonn Sengendo, public relations and Communications officer Uganda Railways Corporation.

The 375km railway line traverses through Mbale, Kumi, Soroti, and Lira before terminating at the Gulu Logistics Hub. 

The Hub is designed to facilitate transportation, collection, separation, consolidation, and distribution of goods for national and international transit on a commercial basis.

The works to be done shall include; drainage improvement (including construction of new culverts and Lining of side drains), earthworks, relocation of utilities, rehabilitation of 5 steel girder bridges, and railway track relaying works among others.

With these improvements, government anticipates transporting a minimum of 500,000 Metric Tons of cargo during FY 2025/26 alone and this will be a great relief to our roads.

The works will also reduce the cost of transportation of cargo from Malaba to Gulu and surrounding districts.

Government has resolved to rehabilitate and improve the performance of Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) towards boosting the country’s trade and easing movement of cargo.

Government under the National Development Plan III has prioritized among others the rehabilitation of the Meter Gauge Railway to enable bulk transportation of goods and reduce high cost of transport by road, traffic congestion, and other associated costs.