KAMPALA .
The Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) has unveiled a grand plan of revamping the country’s railway transport starting with procurement of 10 brand new locomotives .
According to Mr Benon M Kajuna , the managing director URC , the new locomotives will have capacity to pull over 33 loaded wagons in a go or 1,200.
“Funds have been earmarked to procure ten (10) brand new locomotives with the capacity to pull over 33 loaded wagons in a go or 1,200. Under the same project, 100 wagons will be acquired,” he said while addressing Journalists at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala on Wednesday
He revealed that the passenger facilities are also lined up for acquisition with the aim of improving passenger experience and comfort.
All these procurements ,Kajuna said will be funded by the African Development Bank at a tune of $298m (Shs1.0trillion )under the East African Community Railway Rehabilitation Support Project for the Meter Gauge from Kampala to Malaba.
Under the same project , he said he railway line between Kampala-Kyengera and Port Bell will be constructed and fitted with concrete sleepers to enhance efficiency and passenger experience .
“When completed , both lines will serve both passengers and cargo transporters ,” he said
He revealed that the Namanve and Kyengera stations will also be constructed as Park & Ride facilities with ample parking space and other amenities for passengers.
“Halts at different points such as Kireka, Namboole and others are also lined up for reconstruction to modern standards. With these new improvements in the service, our target is to transport over 190,000 passengers daily, 4.5 million monthly,” Mr Kajuna said
The URC boss also said project funds have also been earmarked for upgrading stations along the Kampala – Malaba section including Kampala, Mukono, Kawolo, Lubanyi, Jinja, Iganga, Busembatia, Nagongera, Tororo are in plan.
“ Portbell and Jinja pier infrastructure are also planned for reconstruction to address the shortage currently.” He added
Mr Kajuna said plans are underway to automate level crossings to avert crashes which have led to loss of lives .
“In a bid to ensure that road users are safe at all times, all level crossings within the Kampala Metropolitan Area will be automated and provisions made for Roads Users to be alerted in time before the train approaches these level crossings, ”he said
Since the beginning of this year, two fatal accidents have happened along the URC reserve. The most recent accidents happened early this month when an unidentified female lost her life following a train crash at Nakawa. There is one that happened early this year in Malaba involving a boda boda rider with passenger on board. Another accident happened last week in Namanve where unidentified man threw self into a moving train.
URC is a government enterprise mandated to construct, operate and maintain railways infrastructure, marine and road services for the carriage of passengers and goods. It also provides logistics freight solutions for exports, imports and local cargo within the region and also offers a variety of marine services to transport cargo using Roll on Roll off facility using water vessels like MV Kaawa, MV Pamba for Uganda and supported by MV Uhuru for Kenya and MV Umoja for Tanzania.
In July 2023 ,URC started rehabilitating the Tororo-Gulu railway line and physical progress of on-site works currently stands at 44.5 percent ,while the supply of track materials (including ballast) has reached 82.78 percent completion ,according to Mr Kajuna .