The construction of a freight rail link between Tanzania and Uganda is expected to begin soon. 

This follows a 2011 agreement between the two countries to, upgrade the existing 400 km railway from Tanga to Arusha, and construct a 480km rail track from Arusha to Musoma port.

Cargo en-route to Kampala will then cross Lake Victoria by ship. Under the $3.58 billion deal, the two countries will also construct a new Mwambani port in Tanga and expand Musoma  dock and the new Kampala port at Bukasa area.

Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Tanzanian Ministry of EAC Co-operation, Amantius Msole, said that both the feasibility study and the engineering designs for railway would be completed by the end of this month.

However, he didn’t specify the timeframe for the projects implementation which will be financed jointly by Tanzania and Uganda.

Official cost breakdowns for the projects show that the railway line will cost $1.9 billion, other linked projects such as Mwambani Port are to get $695.5 million, Musoma port $72.6 million and the new Kampala port $320 million.

In August 2013, Tanzania engaged international consultants, Cowi to conduct engineering designs for the existing railway section from Tanga to Arusha, with a connection to serve the Kilimanjaro International Airport.

Cowi’s assignments comprised aerial mapping, geotechnical investigations, feasibility and environmental studies, preliminary design of alignment, bridges, rail systems and stations as well as tender documents.

In the same year, Tanzania contracted HP Gauff from Germany to conduct the feasibility study and preliminary design for the Arusha-Musoma railway section to connect the line to the soda ash-rich Engaruka basin in the north and Minjingu phosphate deposit along the Arusha-Dodoma highway.

New trade route

Upset by costly logistical challenges between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports, Kampala has been looking for alternative trade routes in the region.

Dr Chebrat Slepher, the Uganda’s State minister responsible for Transport is on record as saying the new route would reduce congestion at the key regional ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

This is due to the fact that Tanga and Musoma ports will specifically handle cargo traffic destined for Uganda and South Sudan.

“The most interesting part of this project is that it would reduce congestion at the key regional ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam” Dr Slepher said during the agreement signing in Tanzania recently.

Kampala has persistently cried that intolerable delays on the core transport corridors and low capacity at Mombasa and Dar harbours, are the major factors behind its search for new routes.

The Dar es Salaam route, for instance, remains unpopular among oil marketers because it is longer than the traditional routed through Kenya.

Everest Kayondo, the chairman of Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA), says while Mombasa might present a bigger business opportunity for Rift Valley Railway (RVR), Uganda can take advantage of Tanga.

Mombasa is 1,300 km away from Kampala and about 95 per cent of Uganda’s exports and imports transit through it with a paltry 1 per cent being transported through Dar es Salaam, which is about 1,800 km away.

However, 90 per cent of the Ugandan cargo on the route -- Northern Transport Corridor -- Mombasa to Kampala travels by road and only 10 per cent moves by rail, according to the World Bank.

Tanga is a shortest route as it is about 1,200 plus km away from Kampala, and Mr Kayondo says the business community will favor water and railway transport that are much cheaper than air and road.

For instance, he says, while it costs about $2,000 to transport a 20-foot container from China to either Mombasa or Dar ports, it costs about $3,000 to transport the same container from the ports to Kampala, which makes the cost of doing business too high.

In contrast, it will cost between $ 750 and $1,000 to transport the same container through Tanga-Arusha-Musoma rail and water to Bukasa port in Kampala- almost four times less.

EAC Deputy Secretary General, Dr Enos Bukuku noted with satisfaction progress being made in provision of infrastructure in roads, railway, and ports, among others.

“However, infrastructure deficit in the region is still monumental with the heads of the states priority infrastructure alone requiring a total of $100 billion” Dr Bukuku says. Ends