Friends of the Rail Forum

Kenya, Uganda agree to build joint railway

The Standard
6th January 2009
By John Njiraini

A new Kenya-Uganda railway will be built after the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) failed to improve railway transport in the region.

Kenya and Uganda Governments will sign a bilateral agreement in the next three months to construct a new high capacity and speed standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Kampala with a branch line to Kisumu at a cost of Sh3.5 billion.

The new line will operate concurrently with the existing metre gauge being operated by RVR.

Network

"We want to build a modern standard gauge railway line because we have encountered numerous problems with the old railway even after concession," said Prime Minister Raila Odinga during the inaugural Joint Commission meeting on the new line.

The decision to build a new line means the two Governments confidence in RVR to improve the railway network is at rock bottom.

And although they have toyed with the idea of cancelling the concession, it means building another line is a more viable option than restoring the existing dilapidated network at a cost of Sh37.5 billion over a period of five years.

RVR, which entered the scene in late 2006, has come under repeated criticism for running down the railway network and causing a cargo pile-up at the Mombasa port.

Though the existing railway has a capacity of five million tonnes of goods a year, the hauling capacity has continued to decline accounting for less than six per cent of freight movement in the Northern Corridor by 2007. This performance is extremely poor considering the Mombasa port is currently handling in excess of 16 million tonnes of cargo per year.

With traffic growth at the Port expected to reach 30 million tonnes by 2030, the need to build an efficient and reliable inland transport system that ensure goods leave the Port as soon as they are cleared has become paramount. "In Uganda we are concerned by the high cost of transportation and the construction of the line is long overdue," said John Nasasira, Uganda’s Transport Minister.

Wasted resources

According to the project plan of the new line, the signing of the bilateral agreement by end of March this year should pave the way for instituting a joint legal and policy framework for the joint development and implementation.

This would include undertaking of a full feasibility study for 12 months at a cost of Sh750 million. Kenya would spend Sh600 million and Uganda Sh150 million. Both Governments should factor the money in their 2009/10 Budgets.

Raila and Nasasira, however, disputed the need for a feasibility study, terming it a waste of resources and time. "We spend so much money on feasibility studies but sometimes projects are not implemented," noted the PM.

Ironically, the two governments are banking on the feasibility study to prove the financial viability of the project and attract formidable and experienced investors to finance the design and construction of the line.

The investors, who should ensure the line is fully operational by 2017, would run it for an agreed period to recover their investment and make a fair return.

On completion of that period the investor would transfer back the infrastructure to the two Governments.

From the Monitor in Uganda mid-January 2009 - I don't have the exact date.

Kenya, Uganda to finance new railway line, ease port congestion

Nairobi

The governments of Kenya and Uganda will soon commence the construction of a new
standard-gauge railway line to decongest the Mombasa Port and improve transportation on the
Northern Corridor.

The construction of the railway line is expected to cut delays of cargo at the port of Mombasa
by 70 per cent. The port, currently handling in excess of 16 million tonnes of cargo per year,
is projected to reach 30 million tonnes by 2030.

At a joint commission meeting on the new Kenya-Uganda Railway at a Nairobi hotel last week,
Prime Minister Raila Odinga noted that despite the government’s introduction of a 24-hour
operation at the Mombasa Port to reduce delays, the containers do not get transported up
country in good time.

He said by the end of last year the railway was carrying about seven per cent of the cargo and
its haulage was going down by five per cent. Uganda’s Transport Minister, John Nasasira
reiterated that the two governments have the capacity to finance the construction of the new
line without depending on donors.

Since the new line will connect the same cities and do the same job, will it be constructed close to the RVR right-of-way? For that matter, does the present RVR coincide with the original Lunatic Express line?

Tom, like many old lines the Lunatic Line has changed its alignment frequently. In fact even during the original construction some sections were built three times, especially where there were natural obstacles and/or bridges: first a very temporary engineering track just to get men and materiel to the next section being built simultaneously, then a more permanent temporary track to bypass the natural obstacle, then the "final" alignment with bridge, cutting, embankment or whatever was needed to overcome the natural obstacle - "final" for the time being, any way. In one of the books I've read about the construction of the line there's a quote from the Germans in Tanganyika, who were racing the British to build a railway line to Lake Victoria, to the effect that the British had succeeded in building three railways before the Germans had even managed to build one.

And of course it should be remembered that the original line only went to Lake Victoria and the journey to Kampala continued by lake steamer. At some point (again I don't have my books with me to check) the new line was built onwards to Kampala.

I don't know the route of this particular incarnation of the proposal for a new railway line. It seems to imply that it will start at the existing port in Mombasa. However there is at least one proposal for a completely new "communications corridor" to serve southern Sudan as well as Uganda which is supposed to include railway, road, pipeline, fibre-optic cable, and a completely new port.

And congratulations, Tom - this was your 100th post on the FOTR forum!