Railways in
Uganda
New Uganda Railways Corporation locomotives awaiting delivery in early 2021.
They are Electro-Motive Diesel GT42AC, 3000hp Co-Co diesel electrics.
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, by the early 21st century, only the main line from Tororo, where there is a link to the Kenya rail network, to Kampala (235km) and a short branch from Kampala to Port Bell on Lake Victoria (8km) remained in use.
In 2010, Ugandan Army engineers began the process of rehabilitating the existing lines, and restoring the 382km line from Tororo to Gulu. The latter line reopened in 2013, and was the subject of further restoration commencing in 2023. There are proposals to restore the 118km line between Gulu and Pakwach and the 333km line from Kampala to Kasese.
A regular commuter passenger service for Kampala and its suburbs commenced in 2018.
In 2024, construction began on a new 273km standard (1435mm) gauge line from Kampala to Malaba on the border with Kenya, where it will connect with the Kenyan Standard Gauge Railway. This will form the initial segment of a 1700km railway network covering he whole country and having international connections with Rwanda and Tanzania.
In 2025, tenders were invited for the rehabilitation of sections of the existing metre gauge network, specifically Malaba to Jinja and Port Bell to Kyengera via Kampala.
© 2006-2025 Glyn Williams
Photo image supplied by Uganda Railways Corporation