URC closes Kampala-Mukono railway line for 6 months

The Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) has said a section of the Kampala-Mukono railway line will be closed to passengers and cargo for six months to enable reconstruction works.

“Construction of a concrete sleeper Meter Gauge Railway line from Kampala-Mukono is set to commence next month (April 2023). This section will be closed to all railway and human traffic,” URC tweeted on Monday.

While appearing before the Committee on Government Assurance on August 31, 2022, the minister of Transport, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, revealed that URC had resorted to using concrete railway sleepers to replace the metallic ones due to vandalism.

The works
The reconstruction of the Kampala-Namanve section is expected to end in September and then works on Namanve-Mukono section will follow and run for seven months from October to April 2024. 

However, sections of Mukono-Malaba, Port Bell-Kampala, Mwanza-Kisumu and Jinja-Kisumu-Port Bell will continue to serve travellers.

The development will, however, affect an estimated 1,400 passengers who use the railway services daily. 

According to the notice, the reconstruction aims at improving the railway services in the country.
Mr John Linnon Ssengendo, the URC spokesperson, said the Kampala-Namanve route has an average capacity of about 1,400 passengers per day.

The railway’s boarding stations are located in Kampala, Kireka, Namanve, Bweyogerere and Namboole, with trips covering a 16.7-kilometre radius.

“While each trip may cost about Shs1,000, a passenger who lives, say in Kireka, Nakawa or Bweyogerere, is dropped off, they don’t spend any other coin, but walk home; so the smaller section that goes up to Mukono may have to pay an extra Shs3,000,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.

But he said not much will be lost because the other sections will be working.

Mr Ssengendo  said: “Most transporters’ cargo terminates at their inland car depot in Mukono, and then it is loaded onto trucks. It is only the client of Roofings, who is bringing in steel coils, that will be affected.”

He added: “But even then, we have MV Pamba and Kawa; so, that cargo can also move on water and when it does, it is moved from Port Bell and it is able to be delivered.”

Mr Ssengendo said the disrupted train servcies will only affect passengers who ply the  Kampala-Mukono section.

He has urged residents to give away 10 metres on either side of the railway line to allow construction works go on.

Additional reporting by Philip Wafula