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Uganda Rail and Road Systems
Uganda's railroad system extended to 1,240 kilometers
in the
late 1980s, and about 27,000 kilometers of roads reached
all
areas of the country
(see
fig. 7). About 6,000 kilometers
of
these were all-weather, including 1,800 of them paved. By
1988
many rail sections needed relaying, regrading, or
realigning, and
the condition of most road surfaces was very poor. Road
transport
systems also suffered from an acute shortage of vehicles
and
spare parts for buses, vans, and trucks. Under the RDP,
the
government resurfaced more than 4,000 kilometers of roads
in 1987
and 1988. Road improvement continued to be a high
priority,
largely because officials viewed transportation
infrastructure as
the key to stimulating the rural economy.
The government tried to transfer long-distance traffic,
particularly bulky freight, from the dilapidated road
system to
the rail system operated by the Uganda Railways
Corporation. The
war years of 1985 and 1986, however, followed by ongoing
rebel
activity in eastern and northern Uganda, undermined rail
performance and disrupted service in these areas. In 1987
workers
completed construction on the Nalukolongo Diesel Workshop,
which
repaired locomotives. In addition, the government
purchased 700
wagons and 13 locomotives in 1987. The government also
bought a
fleet of three wagon ferries for operation on Lake
Victoria,
shortening the transportation time for wagons and
facilitating
the opening of the Tanzanian route to the coast. In 1987
these
ferries carried over 28,000 tons of exports and imports
between
Jinja and the Lake Victoria ports of Mwanza and Kisumu. In
1990
rehabilitation of the Kampala-Kasese rail line began, with
the
aim of promoting agriculture, mining, and oil exploration
in
western Uganda.
Because of strained relations with Kenya, Uganda tried
to
reduce its overall dependence on the Kenyan road link to
the
Indian Ocean by promoting an alternative rail route
through
Tanzania. Moreover, rail traffic between Kampala and the
Kenyan
border was irregular, so Ugandan officials hoped to build
up the
Tanzanian link, despite capacity and rolling stock
problems. In
1988 Ugandan and Tanzanian officials began exploring this
possibility. Ugandan officials indicated they were
prepared to
invest in Tanzania's railroad if they could plan on three
trains
a week from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza.
Data as of December 1990
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