Rehabilitation of Kampala-Mukono Railway Line Commences

304
The contractor begins works
The railway line project contractor begins with the works of the Kampala-Mukono Railway line. Courtesy photo

The Uganda Railway Cooperation has started the rehabilitation of the Kampala Namanve–Namanve Mukono railway line on Friday, June 24, 2023.

According to John Linonn Sengendo, the Head of Communications and Public Relations at Uganda Railway Cooperation, the project will be done in two phases. First from Kampala to Namanve, then from Namanve to Mukono.

“Unlike the past projects where the rails were made out of metals, this time the constructors are using concrete sleeper panels which are hard to vandalize and also very hard to unscrew,” Sengendo said.

Sengendo noted that, the 26.3 km project is being handled by Imathia Construction Company and is expected to be complete in 13 months.

He acknowledged that the concrete sleeper panels makes it easier to construct since each panel has 20 sleepers, which will make the construction not only fast but also efficient.

“With the completion of this railway line, we shall extend our passenger services to more people in Mukono and we shall have more passengers commuting from Mukono to Kampala,” Sengendo added.

“Before, we had passengers using over two hours from Kampala to Mukono and with the completion of the railway line, passengers will be using over 30-40 minutes thus saving time which would have been wasted in jam,” Sengendo noted.

Last week the Minister for Finance Planning and Economic Development Matia Kasaija passed a budget and approved over 4.5 trillion Uganda Shs for road maintenance and construction, railway development and rehabilitation.