Uganda revives colonial-era railway after Chinese funds fall through

(© SIMON MAINA / AFP)

Uganda has begun restoring a disused branch of a railway line built under the British Empire, which it hopes will offer a cheaper way to transport goods to neighbouring countries.

The line, which has been out of use for roughly 40 years, is part of the East Africa rail network that stretches out from the port of Mombasa in Kenya. It was built by Kenya and Uganda's former colonial ruler Britain around the turn of the 20th century.

Work has begun to restore nearly 400 kilometres of the tracks between Tororo in eastern Uganda, near the border with Kenya, and Gulu in the north, near South Sudan.

"Our ambition is to move all long-distance bulk cargo transportation onto rail from roads in a few years because rail is cheaper in terms of cost and time," a spokesperson for for state-run Uganda Railways Corporation, John Linnon Sengendo, told Reuters news agency.

New line stalled

Uganda decided to revamp the old network after plans to build a separate, modern line failed to secure funding from China.

The government cancelled its contract with a Chinese firm earlier this year and is now seeking a new contractor for the project, which would see the construction of a standard gauge railway linking the Ugandan capital Kampala to the Kenyan border, where it would join up with Kenya's modern lines.

Another Chinese contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation, will repair the old line over two years at a cost of 200 billion shillings (50.6 million euros) to the Ugandan government, Sengendo said.

Rail revival

Uganda's railway network fell into disrepair during the country's economic collapse in 1970s and early '80s.

Ugandan officials hope once the link is restored, rail will replace trucks in shipping transit goods to South Sudan and north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Under its East African Railway Master Plan, the East African Community regional bloc is aiming to revive lines serving Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and extend them to Rwanda and Burundi. Ultimately it hopes to add South Sudan and Ethiopia to the network too.

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(with Reuters)