Railways in

Uganda

A railway was proposed in the late 19th century to connect Uganda with the Kenyan port of Mombasa. Work was started in 1898 and the railway reached the Kenyan shore of Lake Victoria in 1901, from where it was possible to reach Uganda by steamboat. The first railway to reach Uganda itself had to wait until after the First World War before work commenced, and was only completed from the Kenyan border through to Kampala in 1931. The chosen gauge was metre gauge, matching the Kenyan system.

Various extensions and branches were completed to remote parts of the country as late as the 1950s and 1960s. However, only the main line from the Kenyan border to Kampala (235km) and a short branch from Kampala to Port Bell on Lake Victoria (8km) remain in use.

In 2006, management of the Uganda Railways system (together with that of Kenya) was concessed to a private operator, Rift Valley Railways. Since then the network has suffered a decline and the operator is known to be in financial difficulties. In 2010 it was announced that Army engineers are to undertake reconstruction of various lines.

A number of proposals exist for reopening of existing railways and for new lines:

• Reopening from Kampala to Kasese, about 333km
• Reopening from Kampala to Gulu, about 275km
• A new standard (1435mm) gauge line from Gulu to Wåu in Southern Sudan.
• A new standard (1435mm) gauge line from Kampala to Mombasa in Kenya, effectively replacing the existing metre gauge route.

No definite timescale has been set for any of these proposals.

• Rift Valley Railways private management concessionary for the national system (Site contained no current timetable or fare information when last checked)

© 2006-2011 Glyn Williams
Flag image from CIA World Factbook