Railways set for sh192b overhaul
Oct 01, 2008
RIFT Valley Railways (rvr) is to inject $116m (sh192b ) in rehabilitating and upgrading the Kampala-Mombasa railway line, Brown Odengo, the RVR executive chairman, has said.
By Mikaili Sseppuya
RIFT Valley Railways (rvr) is to inject $116m (sh192b ) in rehabilitating and upgrading the Kampala-Mombasa railway line, Brown Odengo, the RVR executive chairman, has said.
Odengo said a five-year revitalisation plan that would see the concessionaire inject $80.2m in capital investment and $35.8m as operating expenditure maintenance had been drawn up.
“RVR is back on track and the management has embarked on measures that will make the company more efficient in meeting customers’ expectations as well as fulfilling conditions set by the governments of Uganda and Kenya,†he said.
Odengo added that the company turnaround plan also includes changes in management, which have seen appointment of new senior staff.
He said the MTN Uganda chairman, Charles Mbire, was appointed recently as a director as part of efforts to strengthen the managerial structure.
“Apart from strengthening the management structure, we are embarking on a track rehabilitation plan to upgrade the Kampala–Mombasa railway line to improve track stability and increase safety,†Odengo said.
“After these measures, the line will allow the running of 93 and 94 class locomotives,†he added.
Odengo said the rehabilitation plan for the track would be done in three stages.
He said the first phase would include removal of safety threats and major speed restrictions by re-railing the affected areas to ensure safety.
In the second phase, he said, the company would upgrade selected sections of the track from Mombasa to increase track speed from about 47kmph to 54kmph.
The third phase would see improvement of the track speed to 80kmph in the Mombasa-Nairobi section and the Nairobi-Kampala track and branch line sections.
“This plan will see the immediate commencement of rehabilitation of the 93 and 94 class locomotives at the Kampala and Nairobi workshops,†Odengo said.
RVR had planned to invest $29m (sh50.4b) by June to upgrade the network and boost cargo transportation.
If the company follows the plans, it will have nearly met the minimum five-year capital investment set for it by the government of Uganda and Kenyan of $30m (sh52.5b) in less than two years.
RIFT Valley Railways (rvr) is to inject $116m (sh192b ) in rehabilitating and upgrading the Kampala-Mombasa railway line, Brown Odengo, the RVR executive chairman, has said.
Odengo said a five-year revitalisation plan that would see the concessionaire inject $80.2m in capital investment and $35.8m as operating expenditure maintenance had been drawn up.
“RVR is back on track and the management has embarked on measures that will make the company more efficient in meeting customers’ expectations as well as fulfilling conditions set by the governments of Uganda and Kenya,†he said.
Odengo added that the company turnaround plan also includes changes in management, which have seen appointment of new senior staff.
He said the MTN Uganda chairman, Charles Mbire, was appointed recently as a director as part of efforts to strengthen the managerial structure.
“Apart from strengthening the management structure, we are embarking on a track rehabilitation plan to upgrade the Kampala–Mombasa railway line to improve track stability and increase safety,†Odengo said.
“After these measures, the line will allow the running of 93 and 94 class locomotives,†he added.
Odengo said the rehabilitation plan for the track would be done in three stages.
He said the first phase would include removal of safety threats and major speed restrictions by re-railing the affected areas to ensure safety.
In the second phase, he said, the company would upgrade selected sections of the track from Mombasa to increase track speed from about 47kmph to 54kmph.
The third phase would see improvement of the track speed to 80kmph in the Mombasa-Nairobi section and the Nairobi-Kampala track and branch line sections.
“This plan will see the immediate commencement of rehabilitation of the 93 and 94 class locomotives at the Kampala and Nairobi workshops,†Odengo said.
RVR had planned to invest $29m (sh50.4b) by June to upgrade the network and boost cargo transportation.
If the company follows the plans, it will have nearly met the minimum five-year capital investment set for it by the government of Uganda and Kenyan of $30m (sh52.5b) in less than two years.