President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at the end of last week commissioned the rehabilitated Mukono-Kampala meter gauge railway line.
The 26.8 km railway line has been constructed using concrete sleepers that were manufactured by Imathia Construction factory in Kawolo, Lugazi. This rehabilitated section is designed for speeds of up to 120 km/hour, a significant upgrade from the old infrastructure which allowed for only 20-35 km/hour.
The commuter train currently has a capacity of transporting 650 persons in a single trip.
During the launch, President Museveni revealed that the current transport system is irrational, and the government has begun to rationalise it to achieve effectiveness and efficiency.
“Remember the economy of Uganda had collapsed under Idi Amin since 1971 and by the time we came, it had shrunk by 40 percent. We therefore undertook an initiative to revive the economy, and it has now been revived. And because of the revival, we now have the pressure for rapid rationalisation of the transport system,” he said.
“The revived economy has put so many vehicles on the roads and these roads can’t cope rationally with the pressure. This is because everything is on the roads; cargo, petroleum products and passengers.”
President Museveni further disclosed that the government will support the extension of the railway line from Mukono to Lugazi and Jinja.
“I will support the taking of the money from the Spanish government to finish this part from here to Lugazi and then to Jinja but even without external support we are going to fund it because we have no alternative,” he said.
“Where we are going, we are not going to have the Kigogwa incident where people got burnt trying to get free fuel when a petrol tank had overturned because much of the petrol will be transported by pipeline. So, all those trailers will get off the road,” he said.
The President also noted that railway and water transport are cheaper and that’s why they are better than road transport.
“It is rational that petroleum products must be transported through the pipelines to and from Mombasa, to and from Dar-es-Salaam and later alone from the refinery in Hoima to the distribution points in Buloba,” he said.
“Then the cargo should go from the roads to the railway. What we are doing here is tasting and it has caused so much excitement, we have very many passengers and we don’t know what to do with them. That’s very good. We are therefore going to work very hard, get the money so that you can get more locomotives and the wagons and extend to Kyengera, Bujjuko, Port Bell and then this side of Lugazi.”
The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, informed the President that the commissioned railway line is a vital infrastructure in dealing with the challenges associated with transport.
“We started the commuter train as a trial. When we got this line for Namanve, we said why don’t we try a passenger train instead of waiting for only the goods train and we saw that we could do this early morning and late evening because that’s when most people move in and out of Kampala,” he said.
“What started as a trial has now become a good challenge. That challenge is how do we increase the services which have moved from Mukono up to Lugazi? Your Excellency, on average we move every morning and evening about 650 people at once and within 40 minutes from here to Kampala.”
Gen. Katumba Wamala added that the railway transport will help users retain some disposable incomes due to pocket-friendly subsidized fees.
The Chairperson of Board-Uganda Railways Corporation, Al-Hajji Abdallahtifu Wangubo, thanked the President for his wise leadership and support towards the construction of the railway line.
“With the wise leadership of the President, we have had many changes that have taken place which have enhanced the stability of transit. Your Excellency, when you launched the Standard Gauge Railway construction in Tororo, you mentioned how you had been told of the big numbers of Ugandans using the old passenger train and how they keep pushing one another to get inside. Indeed Your Excellency, it’s true, the ridership is too much, we are overwhelmed and pray that we get more train coaches,” he said.
He further noted that the train saves time and money.
“Your Excellency, we have allowed your Bazukulu to travel at an affordable cost. Your Excellency, from June to date, we have transported over 220,000 passengers along the Kampala-Mukono route. We intend to make this even bigger when we add other routes of Kampala-Kyengera and Kampala-Port bell.”
Al-Hajji Wangubo added that the railway sub-sector is on a transformation trajectory and the government has already acquired a facility from the African Development Bank earmarked to undertake the major changes in the meter gauge infrastructure.
