The upgrade works on the Kampala-Malaba railway is nearing completion. Project’s contractor, Chinese Railway and Bridge Cooperation (CRBC) announced t
The upgrade works on the Kampala-Malaba railway is nearing completion. Project’s contractor, Chinese Railway and Bridge Cooperation (CRBC) announced that the project is set to be fully done by next month.
The Refurbishment of the Kampala – Malaba Meter Gauge Railway project is part of the infrastructural improvement program that seeks to meet the Government’s long-term development strategy as outlined in the National Development Plan III, which aims at increasing the stock and quality of productive infrastructure to support trade, industrialisation, exports and efficient urbanisation as well as increasing the productivity, inclusiveness and well-being of the population and not limited to strengthening the private sector to drive growth.
Kampala-Malaba railway
The project which is currently at 95% complete began last year with funding from the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and was done in phases. The first phase included engineering design for the Kampala multimodal hub and refurbishment of Kampala-Namanve and Tororo-Malaba sections totalling 28 kilometres.
The second phase covered the Environmental Study and Impact Assessment (ESIA), purchase of workshop equipment and rolling stock, including wagons and locomotives, as well as the rehabilitation of Namanve-Tororo, Port Bell line, Jinja Pier line and Kampala-Kyengera sections totalling 245km.
“We have rehabilitated over 200 kilometres. We have fitted everything, including rails, slippers, compacted stones. We shall be able to hand over the project in February as planned because the remaining five percent (28km) is too small. We want to complete the rehabilitation work on time so that the trains can keep moving,” said Qin Jian, a CRBC engineer.