A new railway line will connect Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. Transport costs will reduce by more than 60 per cent, Africa Review writes, and the line will add at least 2,000 miles to East Africa’s railway network
Last Thursday Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta opened the first 500 kilometer stretch between Mombasa and Nairobi. The Chinese-funded and constructed line will cost 14 billion dollar. The railway will across East Africa.
It is estimated that the railway will take five years to build and be completed by December 2018 through three phases — Mombasa to Nairobi, Nairobi to Malaba/Kisumu and Malaba/Kisumu to Kampala.
Railroad to South Sudan
Kenya also plans to build the 1,400km Lamu-Lokichoggio rail and the Nairobi-Moyale 700km railway line, which will link the country to Juba in South Sudan as part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor. Other major regional railway projects in the pipeline are the Juba-Malaba railway and the Juba-Kampala corridors. Kenyatta said that South Sudan President Salva Kiir had also given assurance that his government would join the railway project, extending it to Juba. (Source Africa Review)
“This in turn will spur expanded production and reduce the cost of goods and services. This dividend is the prize we seek for East Africa,” Mr Kenyatta said. The railway line will have a uniform design. The width between the tracks will be 1.4 meters, compared to one meter for the old line. The line will allow freight trains to reach speeds of 100kph while passenger trains will attain a high of 120kph.
Photo: railway obstruction in Kenya