Prime
Govt seeks to increase railway freight cargo to 25%
The railway transport network has suffered from years of neglect. Photo / File
What you need to know:
- The share of freight transported by rail currently stands at 10 percent
Government, through Ministry of Works, has said it intends to increase the share of freight transported by rail to 25 percent by the end of 2025
The plan comes at a time when data from Ministry of Works shows that as of June 2023, the share of freight transported by rail reached 10 percent, with government completing the rehabilitation of the 243-kilometre Tororo–Mukono railway line and compensation of 1,529 project affected persons on the Malaba–Kampala rail route.
The data further shows that by December 2023, the refurbishment of the Mukono–Namanve line was at 78.2 percent physical progress, while the Namanve–Kampala line was completed, with railway services resuming in May 2024, as well as continued rehabilitation of the metre gauge railway from Tororo to Gulu, whose physical progress is currently at 32 percent.
The railway network had suffered from years of neglect, with government concentrating on the implementation of the Standard Gauge Railway, under which, by December 2023, a total of 161.074 acres of land had been acquired out of the planned 312 acres.
However, government has recently backtracked, noting that the two projects – metre gauge and standard gauge will go hand-in-hand to reduce movement of cargo on roads.
Government also indicates that, under the Ministry of Works, it has embarked on a number of marine transport projects with the view of reducing the cost of water freight (per km/ton) from $0.06 to $0.048.
The interventions include development of Bukasa Port, constructing three ferries and landing sites on Lake Bunyonyi, Bukungu–Kagwara–Kaberamaido, and Sigulu landing site.
Data also indicates that the Ministry of Works has licensed 75 boats and registered three ships to operate on Uganda’s inland water transport corridor, completed construction of the Maritime Training Institute and commenced the construction of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Mwanza and Entebbe.
Construction progress of search and rescue centres for Kaazi landing site is 46.4 percent, while Masese and Kaiso, Panyimur and Zengebe is ongoing.
Government has further procured 10 pieces of navigational equipment for search and rescue vessels.
