Uganda Railway
Encyclopedia
The Uganda Railway is a railway system and former railway company linking the interiors of Uganda
and Kenya
with the Indian Ocean
at Mombasa
in Kenya.
under the Foreign Office at the start of the period when Britain maintained colonial control of the region as British East Africa. Construction of the line started at the port city of Mombasa in the Kenya Colony
in 1896 and reached Kisumu
, on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria
, in 1901. By 1931 it was extended to Kampala in the Uganda Protectorate. Although almost all of the rail line was actually in the colony that would come to be known as Kenya, the original purpose of the project was to provide a modern transport link to carry raw materials out of, and manufactured British goods into, the Uganda Protectorate.
Previously the British East Africa Company had started the Mackinnon-Sclater road
, a 600 miles (965.6 km) ox
-cart track from Mombasa to Busia
in Kenya, in 1890. The railway followed a similar route and soon superseded it.
The railway is gauge
and virtually all single-track
. The project cost about £5 million to complete and the first services started in 1903.
Construction was carried out principally by Sikh
labourers from British India. Many of these workers remained in East Africa to create the substantial Indian minority communities in Kenya and Uganda.
The railway was a huge logistical achievement and became strategically and economically vital for both Uganda and Kenya. It helped to suppress slavery, by removing the need for humans in the transport of goods, and in the First World War
campaign against General Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck in German East Africa
, modern Tanzania. The railway allowed heavy equipment to be transported far inland with relative ease. Up until that time the main form of transport in the interior was ox-drawn wagon
. The railway also allowed coffee
and tea
to be exported and encouraged colonial
settlement and other types of commerce
. In order to help pay for the project, the UK government encouraged white settlers to farm large tracts of Kenyan highlands which the railway had made accessible. This policy would shape the development of Kenya for decades.
A railway siding connecting to the residence of the High Commissioner
to Uganda was used by Governor Frederick John Jackson and his 1910 BSA
railcar
that was used for his hunting parties. The railcar was recently restored in South Africa.
The Governor lent his railcar to President Theodore Roosevelt
on his visit to Uganda.
by the Africans. It was defended in the British Parliament by Sir Gerald Portal
who felt all the right reasons were there, the need to ensure protection of the source of the Nile from Britain’s enemies, a great potential market for British goods, the huge traffic expected, and a revolutionary effect in settling the region.
Political resistance to this “gigantic folly” surfaced immediately, including the Liberals
pronouncement that the Government had no right to drive a railway through country owned by the Maasai. And by what right did England have to assert mastery over thousands upon thousands of unlettered African tribesmen? Such arguments along with the claim that it would be a waste of taxpayers’ money were easily dismissed by the Conservatives
. If Britain were to step away from its "manifest destiny", it would by default leave it to other nations to take up the work which Britain would be seen as “…too weak, too poor, and too cowardly to do ourselves.” Estimated at £3 million in 1894 or $432 million in today’s currency, when the books were closed in 1902 the final cost was $793 million.
Due to the shaky-looking wooden trestle bridges, enormous chasms, prohibitive cost, hostile tribes, men infected by the hundreds by diseases, and man-eating lions pulling railway workers out of carriages at night, the name "Lunatic Express" certainly seemed to fit. However, an early traveller, Winston Churchill
, said of it, “The British art of ‘muddling through,’ was here seen in one of its finest expositions. Through everything – through the forests, through the ravines, through troops of marauding lions, through famine, through war, through five years of excoriating Parliamentary debate, muddled and marched the railway.”
led by Koitalel Arap Samoei
. He was killed in 1905 by Richard Meinertzhagen
, finally ending the Nandi resistance.
. Hunting mainly at night, a pair of maneless male lion
s stalked and killed at least 28 Indian and African workers – although some accounts put the number of victims as high as 135.
The lions, dubbed "the Maneaters of Tsavo
," were eventually shot and killed by the bridge construction supervisor, Engineer
Lt. Colonel John Henry Patterson
, who had their skins made into rugs before selling them, some years later, to the Field Museum of Natural History
in Chicago
for $5,000 US.
were shipped from Scotland
by sea to Mombasa and then by rail to Kisumu
where they were reassembled and provided a service to Port Bell
and, later, other ports on Lake Victoria (see section below). A 7 miles (11.3 km) rail line between Port Bell and Kampala
was the final link in the chain providing efficient transport between the Ugandan capital and the open sea at Mombasa, more than 900 miles (1,448.4 km) away.
Branch lines were built to Thika
in 1913, Lake Magadi
in 1915, Kitale
in 1926, Naro Moro in 1927 and from Tororo
to Soroti
in 1929. In 1929 the Uganda Railway became Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours
(KURH), which in 1931 completed a branch line
to Mount Kenya
and extended the main line from Nakuru
to Kampala
in Uganda. In 1948 KURH became part of the East African Railways Corporation, which added the line from Kampala to Kasese
in western Uganda in 1956. and extended to it to Arua
near the border with Zaire
in 1964.
The focusing effect of railway junctions and depots created many of the interior's modern towns and ports, such as:
. In 1898 it launched the 110 ton at Kisumu, having assembled the vessel from a "knock down" kit supplied by Bow, McLachlan and Company
of Paisley
in Scotland. A succession of further Bow, McLachlan & Co. "knock down" kits followed. The 662 ton sister ship
s and (1902 and 1903), the 1,134 ton (1907) and the 1,300 ton sister ships and (1914 and 1915) were combined passenger and cargo ferries. The 812 ton SS Nyanza
(launched after Clement Hill) was purely a cargo ship
. The 228 ton launched in 1913 was a tugboat
. Two more tugboats from Bow, McLachlan were added in 1925: and .
By the time Usoga was launched the First World War
had broken out. She and her sister ship Rusinga were requisitioned as troop ships for the First World War East African Campaign
and the smaller William Mackinnon, Winifred, Sybil and Kavirondo were armed as gunboats. Shortly after war broke out Sybil was holed on a rock and was beached, but in 1915 she was refloated and in 1916 she was returned to service. All members of the fleet survived the war and were restored to civilian service after the Armistice.
and down the Victoria Nile to Pakwach
at the head of the Albert Nile. Its Lake Victoria ships were unsuitable for river work so it introduced the stern wheel paddle steamers (1910) and (1913) for the new service. In the 1920s the company added (1925) and the side wheel paddle steamer (1927), with the latter starting a service down the Albert Nile as far as the border town
of Nimule
in Sudan
. Shortly after the Uganda Railway became the KURH it introduced a steamer service between Butiaba
Lake Albert and Kasenyi
on Lake George
.
in 1929, which was succeeded by the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation
in 1948. The East African Community
was dissolved in 1977 and the EARH&C was divided into three national railways. The former Uganda Railway was divided between the Kenya Railways Corporation
and Uganda Railways Corporation
.
As the only modern means of transport from the East African coast to the higher plateaus of the interior, a ride on the Uganda Railway became an essential overture to the safari
adventures which grew in popularity in the first two decades of the 20th century. As a result it usually featured prominently in the accounts written by travelers in British East Africa. The rail journey stirred many a romantic passage, like this one from former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
, who rode the line to start his world-famous safari
in 1909:
Passengers were invited to ride a platform on the front of the locomotive (pictured at right) from which they might see the passing game herds more closely. During Roosevelt's journey, he claimed that "on this, except at mealtime, I spent most of the hours of daylight." The famous Indian reformer from Edalakudy
, Mr. Rahmania, had visited the Ugandan railways as a part of his journey to East Africa.
runs passenger trains between Mombasa
and Nairobi
and has recently reopened the line between Nairobi and Kisumu
near the Kenya-Uganda border. The train has not traveled to Kampala since the 1970s. It usually leaves in the evening and arrives the following morning after a journey of around 13 to 14 hours and the Kenya and Ugandan governments have signed a joint agreement to allow privatization of the line.
Most locals consider the Nairobi to Mombasa journey relatively safe for foreigners (in first and second class) but strongly advise against travel on the Nairobi to Kisumu line. The Kisumu line winds its way through Kibera
, (the World's second largest slum) on the outskirts of Nairobi and is well known for violence and attacks.
In September, 2006, the World Bank
approved the first grant ($70 million) to help the railway regain its position as a relevant and competitive mode of transport.
operates only the 5 miles (8 km) line between Kampala and Port Bell
and the 120 miles (193.1 km) main line between Kampala and the Kenyan border at Tororo
. In 1989 Ugandan government soldiers massacred sixty civilians at Mukura railway station.
More recently the URC has been joint recipient of the 2001 Worldaware Business Award for "assisting economic and social development through the provision of appropriate, sustainable and environmentally complementary transport infrastructure". The Uganda Railways Update Report gives details of management improvement.
".
Man-eating lions at Tsavo
during the construction of the Uganda Railway feature in books:
and movies:
Films:
Books:
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
with the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
at Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
in Kenya.
Origins
The Uganda Railway was built by the British EmpireBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
under the Foreign Office at the start of the period when Britain maintained colonial control of the region as British East Africa. Construction of the line started at the port city of Mombasa in the Kenya Colony
Kenya Colony
The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British crown colony in 1920...
in 1896 and reached Kisumu
Kisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
, on the eastern shore of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
, in 1901. By 1931 it was extended to Kampala in the Uganda Protectorate. Although almost all of the rail line was actually in the colony that would come to be known as Kenya, the original purpose of the project was to provide a modern transport link to carry raw materials out of, and manufactured British goods into, the Uganda Protectorate.
Previously the British East Africa Company had started the Mackinnon-Sclater road
Mackinnon-Sclater road
The Mackinnon-Sclater road was a 600mile/1000km ox cart track from Mombasa to Busia in Kenya started in 1890 by the British East Africa Company . It superseded earlier caravan routes used by slave traders and explorers of the interior....
, a 600 miles (965.6 km) ox
Ox
An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...
-cart track from Mombasa to Busia
Busia, Kenya
Busia is a town in Western Kenya. It is the largest town in Busia District, Kenya and the district headquarters are located there.-Location:Busia, Kenya is located in Busia District, in Kenya's Western Province, approximately , by road, west of Nairobi, Kenya's capital and largest city...
in Kenya, in 1890. The railway followed a similar route and soon superseded it.
The railway is gauge
Metre gauge
Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...
and virtually all single-track
Single track (rail)
A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....
. The project cost about £5 million to complete and the first services started in 1903.
Construction was carried out principally by Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
labourers from British India. Many of these workers remained in East Africa to create the substantial Indian minority communities in Kenya and Uganda.
The railway was a huge logistical achievement and became strategically and economically vital for both Uganda and Kenya. It helped to suppress slavery, by removing the need for humans in the transport of goods, and in the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
campaign against General Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck in German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
, modern Tanzania. The railway allowed heavy equipment to be transported far inland with relative ease. Up until that time the main form of transport in the interior was ox-drawn wagon
Wagon
A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float....
. The railway also allowed coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
and tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
to be exported and encouraged colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
settlement and other types of commerce
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
. In order to help pay for the project, the UK government encouraged white settlers to farm large tracts of Kenyan highlands which the railway had made accessible. This policy would shape the development of Kenya for decades.
A railway siding connecting to the residence of the High Commissioner
High Commissioner (Commonwealth)
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a High Commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.-History:...
to Uganda was used by Governor Frederick John Jackson and his 1910 BSA
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
that was used for his hunting parties. The railcar was recently restored in South Africa.
The Governor lent his railcar to President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
on his visit to Uganda.
Lunatic Express
The nickname of Lunatic Express was first introduced in modern times as the title of a book by Charles Miller in 1971 (Macmillan) The Lunatic Express, sub-titled “An Entertainment in Imperialism,” it was also known as the “Lunatic Line” by the tabloids of the day, and The Iron SnakeThe Iron Snake
The Iron Snake is an ancient tribal prophecy attributed to both the Maasai and Kĩkũyũ tribes in Kenya in which a railway is described as an iron snake.The iron snake would someday cross their land and would be a bad omen creating trouble as it went....
by the Africans. It was defended in the British Parliament by Sir Gerald Portal
Gerald Portal
Sir Gerald Herbert Portal was a British diplomat, who was the Consul General for British East Africa and British Special Commissioner to Uganda, and a main figure in the establishment of the Uganda Protectorate.-Diplomatic career:...
who felt all the right reasons were there, the need to ensure protection of the source of the Nile from Britain’s enemies, a great potential market for British goods, the huge traffic expected, and a revolutionary effect in settling the region.
Political resistance to this “gigantic folly” surfaced immediately, including the Liberals
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
pronouncement that the Government had no right to drive a railway through country owned by the Maasai. And by what right did England have to assert mastery over thousands upon thousands of unlettered African tribesmen? Such arguments along with the claim that it would be a waste of taxpayers’ money were easily dismissed by the Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. If Britain were to step away from its "manifest destiny", it would by default leave it to other nations to take up the work which Britain would be seen as “…too weak, too poor, and too cowardly to do ourselves.” Estimated at £3 million in 1894 or $432 million in today’s currency, when the books were closed in 1902 the final cost was $793 million.
Due to the shaky-looking wooden trestle bridges, enormous chasms, prohibitive cost, hostile tribes, men infected by the hundreds by diseases, and man-eating lions pulling railway workers out of carriages at night, the name "Lunatic Express" certainly seemed to fit. However, an early traveller, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, said of it, “The British art of ‘muddling through,’ was here seen in one of its finest expositions. Through everything – through the forests, through the ravines, through troops of marauding lions, through famine, through war, through five years of excoriating Parliamentary debate, muddled and marched the railway.”
Kedong Massacre
Building the railway met local resistance on various occasions. A major incident was the Kedong Massacre, when the Maasai attacked a railway worker's caravan killing around 500 people because two Maasai girls had been raped. Englishman Andrew Dick led a counter-attack against them, but ran out of ammunition and was speared to death by the Maasai. At the turn of the 20th century, the railway construction was disturbed by the resistance by Nandi peopleNandi people
The Nandi people are a number of Kenyan tribes living in the highland areas of the Nandi Hills in Rift Valley Province who speak the Nandi languages. They are a sub-group of the Kalenjin people....
led by Koitalel Arap Samoei
Koitalel Arap Samoei
Koitalel Arap Samoei was an Orkoiyot, the supreme chief of the Nandi people of Kenya, who led the Nandi rebellion against the British colonial rule....
. He was killed in 1905 by Richard Meinertzhagen
Richard Meinertzhagen
Colonel Richard Henry Meinertzhagen CBE DSO was a British soldier, intelligence officer and ornithologist.- Background and youth :Meinertzhagen was born into a socially connected, wealthy British family...
, finally ending the Nandi resistance.
The Tsavo Incident
The incidents for which the building of the railway may be most noted are the killings of a number of construction workers in 1898, during the building of a bridge across the Tsavo RiverTsavo River
The Tsavo River runs east from the western end of the Tsavo National Park of Kenya, near the border of Tanzania, until it joins with the Athi River, forming the Galana River near the center of the park. This river is the main contributor to the watershed of the lower portion of the park region, and...
. Hunting mainly at night, a pair of maneless male lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s stalked and killed at least 28 Indian and African workers – although some accounts put the number of victims as high as 135.
The lions, dubbed "the Maneaters of Tsavo
Tsavo maneaters
The Tsavo Man-Eaters were a pair of notorious man-eating lions responsible for the deaths of a number of construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway, from March through December 1898.-History:...
," were eventually shot and killed by the bridge construction supervisor, Engineer
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
Lt. Colonel John Henry Patterson
John Henry Patterson (author)
Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, DSO , known as J.H. Patterson, was an Anglo-Irish soldier, hunter, author and Zionist, best known for his book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo , which details his experiences while building a railway in Kenyain 1898-99...
, who had their skins made into rugs before selling them, some years later, to the Field Museum of Natural History
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex known as the Museum Campus Chicago...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
for $5,000 US.
Extensions and Branches
Disassembled ferriesFerry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
were shipped from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
by sea to Mombasa and then by rail to Kisumu
Kisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
where they were reassembled and provided a service to Port Bell
Port Bell
Port Bell is a small industrial centre in the greater metropolitan Kampala area, in Uganda. Port Bell has a rail link and a rail/road ferry wharf used for International traffic across Lake Victoria to Tanzania and Kenya.-Location:...
and, later, other ports on Lake Victoria (see section below). A 7 miles (11.3 km) rail line between Port Bell and Kampala
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
was the final link in the chain providing efficient transport between the Ugandan capital and the open sea at Mombasa, more than 900 miles (1,448.4 km) away.
Branch lines were built to Thika
Thika
Thika is an industrial town in Central Province, Kenya, lying on the A2 road 40 km north east of Nairobi, near the confluence of Thika River & Chania River. Thika has a population of 200,000and is growing rapidly, as is the entire greater Nairobi area...
in 1913, Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi
Lake Magadi is the southernmost lake in the Kenya Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania's Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including flamingos....
in 1915, Kitale
Kitale
Kitale is an agricultural town in western Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherengani Hills at an elevation of around . Its urban population was estimated at 220,000 in 2007....
in 1926, Naro Moro in 1927 and from Tororo
Tororo
Tororo is a town in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative and commercial center of Tororo District. The district was named after the town.-Location:...
to Soroti
Soroti
Soroti is the main municipal, commercial and administrative centre of Soroti District in Eastern Uganda, lying near Lake Kyoga. It is known for the rock formation near the town as well as a variety of Muslim mosques, Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras as well as several churches that meet in various...
in 1929. In 1929 the Uganda Railway became Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours
Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours
Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours ran harbours, railways and lake and river ferries in Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate from 1929 until 1948. It included the Uganda Railway, which it extended from Nakuru to Kampala in 1931...
(KURH), which in 1931 completed a branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
to Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
and extended the main line from Nakuru
Nakuru
Nakuru, the provincial capital of Kenya's Rift Valley province, with roughly 300,000 inhabitants, and currently the fourth largest urban centre in the country, lies about 1850 m above sea level...
to Kampala
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
in Uganda. In 1948 KURH became part of the East African Railways Corporation, which added the line from Kampala to Kasese
Kasese
Kasese is a town in Western Uganda, lying north of Lake George. It originally grew around the copper mine at Kilembe, while attention later turned to cobalt mining. It is the 'chief town' of Kasese District and the district headquarters are located there...
in western Uganda in 1956. and extended to it to Arua
Arua
Arua is a town in Arua District, Northern Uganda. An important local commercial centre, it is a base for a large refugee population from Southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is an aid distribution centre for those nations.-Location:...
near the border with Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
in 1964.
The focusing effect of railway junctions and depots created many of the interior's modern towns and ports, such as:
- EldoretEldoretEldoret is a town in western Kenya and the administrative centre of Uasin Gishu District of Rift Valley Province. Lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about 2100 metres above sea level at the airport to more than 2700 metres in nearby areas...
, originally called "64" after its distance, in miles, from the railhead at the time - JinjaJinja, UgandaJinja is the largest town in Uganda, Africa. It is the second busiest commercial center in the country, after Kampala, Uganda's capital and only city. Jinja was established in 1907.-Location:...
, a city and port close to the outlet of Lake Victoria, the source of the River Nile - KisumuKisumuKisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
, a city and port on Lake Victoria allowing ferryFerryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
transport between Kenya, TanganyikaTanganyikaTanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
(modern Tanzania) and Uganda - KitaleKitaleKitale is an agricultural town in western Kenya situated between Mount Elgon and the Cherengani Hills at an elevation of around . Its urban population was estimated at 220,000 in 2007....
, a small farming community in the foothills of Mount ElgonMount ElgonMount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale.- Physical features :It is the oldest and largest solitary volcano in East Africa, covering an area of around 3500 km².... - NairobiNairobiNairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, started as a rail depot, becoming the capital of Kenya. - NakuruNakuruNakuru, the provincial capital of Kenya's Rift Valley province, with roughly 300,000 inhabitants, and currently the fourth largest urban centre in the country, lies about 1850 m above sea level...
, where the main line splits, one branch going to Kisumu and the other to Uganda - Port BellPort BellPort Bell is a small industrial centre in the greater metropolitan Kampala area, in Uganda. Port Bell has a rail link and a rail/road ferry wharf used for International traffic across Lake Victoria to Tanzania and Kenya.-Location:...
, a rail-linked port, near to KampalaKampalaKampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
, on Lake Victoria allowing ferry transport between Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda
Lake Victoria
Almost from its inception the Uganda Railway developed shipping services on Lake VictoriaLake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
. In 1898 it launched the 110 ton at Kisumu, having assembled the vessel from a "knock down" kit supplied by Bow, McLachlan and Company
Bow, McLachlan and Company
Bow, McLachlan and Company was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding company that traded between 1872 and 1932.-1872-1914:In 1872 William Bow and John McLachlan founded the company at Abbotsinch, Renfrewshire, where it made steering gear and light marine steam engines. In 1900 the company...
of Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
in Scotland. A succession of further Bow, McLachlan & Co. "knock down" kits followed. The 662 ton sister ship
Sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
s and (1902 and 1903), the 1,134 ton (1907) and the 1,300 ton sister ships and (1914 and 1915) were combined passenger and cargo ferries. The 812 ton SS Nyanza
SS Nyanza (1907)
SS Nyanza is a cargo ship on Lake Victoria in East Africa. She is one of at least six Clyde-built ships called Nyanza that were launched between 1867 and 1956....
(launched after Clement Hill) was purely a cargo ship
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
. The 228 ton launched in 1913 was a tugboat
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
. Two more tugboats from Bow, McLachlan were added in 1925: and .
By the time Usoga was launched the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
had broken out. She and her sister ship Rusinga were requisitioned as troop ships for the First World War East African Campaign
East African Campaign (World War I)
The East African Campaign was a series of battles and guerrilla actions which started in German East Africa and ultimately affected portions of Mozambique, Northern Rhodesia, British East Africa, Uganda, and the Belgian Congo. The campaign was effectively ended in November 1917...
and the smaller William Mackinnon, Winifred, Sybil and Kavirondo were armed as gunboats. Shortly after war broke out Sybil was holed on a rock and was beached, but in 1915 she was refloated and in 1916 she was returned to service. All members of the fleet survived the war and were restored to civilian service after the Armistice.
Lake Kyoga, Lake Albert and the Nile
The company extended its steamer service with a route across Lake KyogaLake Kyoga
Lake Kyoga is a large shallow lake complex of Uganda, about in area and at an elevation of 914 m. The Victoria Nile flows through the lake on its way from Lake Victoria to Lake Albert. The main inflow from Lake Victoria is regulated by the Nalubaale Power Station in Jinja. Another source of water...
and down the Victoria Nile to Pakwach
Pakwach
- Location :Pakwach is located in Nebbi District, in West Nile sub-region, in Northern Uganda. It is situated approximately , by road, southeast of Arua, the largest town in West Nile. This location lies along the western bank of the Albert Nile, approximately , by road, southwest of Gulu, the...
at the head of the Albert Nile. Its Lake Victoria ships were unsuitable for river work so it introduced the stern wheel paddle steamers (1910) and (1913) for the new service. In the 1920s the company added (1925) and the side wheel paddle steamer (1927), with the latter starting a service down the Albert Nile as far as the border town
Border town
A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states or regions. Usually the term implies that it is one of the things the town is most famous for. Border towns can have highly cosmopolitan communities, a feature they share with port cities...
of Nimule
Nimule
Nimule is a town in South Sudan, immediately north of the International border with Uganda.-Location:Nimule is located in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan, adjacent to the border with the Republic of Uganda. This location lies approximately , by road, southeast of Juba, the...
in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. Shortly after the Uganda Railway became the KURH it introduced a steamer service between Butiaba
Butiaba
Butiaba, sometimes spelled as Butyaba, is a town in Western Uganda.-Location:Butiaba is situated on the eastern shores of Lake Albert, in Masindi District. It is located approximately , by road, west of the district headquarters at Masindi. This location is approximately , by road, northwest of...
Lake Albert and Kasenyi
Kasenyi
-Location:Kasenyi is located in Kasese District, Rwenzururu sub-region, Western Uganda. It lies within Queen Elizabeth National Park, the most visited of Uganda's national parks. The location of Kasenyi is approximately , by road, southeast of Kasese, the district headquarters, and the largest town...
on Lake George
Lake George (Uganda)
Lake George or Lake Dweru is a lake in Uganda. It covers a total surface area of 250 km² and is a part of Africa's Great Lakes system but is not itself considered one of the Great Lakes. Like the other lakes in the region it was named after a member of the British royal family, in this case...
.
Successor companies
The Uganda Railway became part of Kenya and Uganda Railways and HarboursKenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours
Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours ran harbours, railways and lake and river ferries in Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate from 1929 until 1948. It included the Uganda Railway, which it extended from Nakuru to Kampala in 1931...
in 1929, which was succeeded by the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation
East African Railways and Harbours Corporation
The East African Railways and Harbours Corporation was formed in 1948 for the new East African High Commission by merging the Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours with the Tanganyika Railway of the Tanganyika Territory...
in 1948. The East African Community
East African Community
The East African Community is an intergovernmental organisation comprising the five east African countries Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of the Republic of Burundi, is the current Chairman of the East African Community. The EAC was originally...
was dissolved in 1977 and the EARH&C was divided into three national railways. The former Uganda Railway was divided between the Kenya Railways Corporation
Kenya Railways Corporation
Kenya Railways Corporation , also Kenya Railways is the national railway of Kenya. Established in 1977, KR is a state corporation.- History :...
and Uganda Railways Corporation
Uganda Railways Corporation
Uganda Railways Corporation is the parastatal railway of Uganda. It was formed after the breakup of the East African Railways Corporation in 1977 when it took over the Ugandan part of the East African railways....
.
The Railway and tourism
Safari
A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
adventures which grew in popularity in the first two decades of the 20th century. As a result it usually featured prominently in the accounts written by travelers in British East Africa. The rail journey stirred many a romantic passage, like this one from former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, who rode the line to start his world-famous safari
Safari
A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
in 1909:
Passengers were invited to ride a platform on the front of the locomotive (pictured at right) from which they might see the passing game herds more closely. During Roosevelt's journey, he claimed that "on this, except at mealtime, I spent most of the hours of daylight." The famous Indian reformer from Edalakudy
Edalakudy
Edalakudy is a well populated Muslim area about 3 km from the Nagercoil town in Kanyakumari district. It is located in the Kanyakumari highway and about 17 km from the beach of Kanyakumari, 5 km from Chothavilai Beach and 10 km from Chankuthurai Beach. Edalakudy forms the...
, Mr. Rahmania, had visited the Ugandan railways as a part of his journey to East Africa.
Kenya
The Kenya Railways CorporationKenya Railways Corporation
Kenya Railways Corporation , also Kenya Railways is the national railway of Kenya. Established in 1977, KR is a state corporation.- History :...
runs passenger trains between Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
and Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
and has recently reopened the line between Nairobi and Kisumu
Kisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
near the Kenya-Uganda border. The train has not traveled to Kampala since the 1970s. It usually leaves in the evening and arrives the following morning after a journey of around 13 to 14 hours and the Kenya and Ugandan governments have signed a joint agreement to allow privatization of the line.
Most locals consider the Nairobi to Mombasa journey relatively safe for foreigners (in first and second class) but strongly advise against travel on the Nairobi to Kisumu line. The Kisumu line winds its way through Kibera
Kibera
Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa...
, (the World's second largest slum) on the outskirts of Nairobi and is well known for violence and attacks.
In September, 2006, the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
approved the first grant ($70 million) to help the railway regain its position as a relevant and competitive mode of transport.
Uganda
The Uganda Railways CorporationUganda Railways Corporation
Uganda Railways Corporation is the parastatal railway of Uganda. It was formed after the breakup of the East African Railways Corporation in 1977 when it took over the Ugandan part of the East African railways....
operates only the 5 miles (8 km) line between Kampala and Port Bell
Port Bell
Port Bell is a small industrial centre in the greater metropolitan Kampala area, in Uganda. Port Bell has a rail link and a rail/road ferry wharf used for International traffic across Lake Victoria to Tanzania and Kenya.-Location:...
and the 120 miles (193.1 km) main line between Kampala and the Kenyan border at Tororo
Tororo
Tororo is a town in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative and commercial center of Tororo District. The district was named after the town.-Location:...
. In 1989 Ugandan government soldiers massacred sixty civilians at Mukura railway station.
More recently the URC has been joint recipient of the 2001 Worldaware Business Award for "assisting economic and social development through the provision of appropriate, sustainable and environmentally complementary transport infrastructure". The Uganda Railways Update Report gives details of management improvement.
Books and movies
A description of the construction of the railway, prefaced by a very detailed background on the history of East Africa, Colonial politics and the "Scramble for AfricaScramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or Partition of Africa was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914...
".
- Churchill, Winston SWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, 1907, My African Journey. - Halkin, John, 1986, Kenya, New York, Beaufort Books: A novel focusing on the construction of the railroad and its defecse during the First World War
Man-eating lions at Tsavo
Tsavo maneaters
The Tsavo Man-Eaters were a pair of notorious man-eating lions responsible for the deaths of a number of construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway, from March through December 1898.-History:...
during the construction of the Uganda Railway feature in books:
- Coates, Frank, 2005, Beyond MombasaBeyond MombasaBeyond Mombasa is a 1956 film directed by George Marshall. It stars Cornel Wilde and Donna Reed.-Cast:*Cornel Wilde as Matt Campbell*Donna Reed as Ann Wilson*Leo Genn as Ralph Hoyt*Ron Randell as Elliot Hastings*Christopher Lee as Gil Rossi...
- Patterson, J.H.John Henry PattersonJohn Henry Patterson may refer to:* John Henry Patterson , Anglo-Irish soldier who wrote The Man-Eaters of Tsavo which was made into the film The Ghost and the Darkness in 1996...
, 1907, The Man-eaters of TsavoThe Man-eaters of TsavoThe Man-eaters of Tsavo is a book written by John Henry Patterson in 1907 that recounts his experiences while overseeing the construction of a railroad bridge in what would become Kenya...
and movies:
- Bwana DevilBwana DevilBwana Devil is a 1952 drama based on the true story of the Tsavo maneaters. It was written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler, and is considered the first color, American 3-D feature. It started the 3-D boom in the U.S. film making industry from 1952 to 1954...
, (1952) - The Ghost and the DarknessThe Ghost and the DarknessThe Ghost and the Darkness is a 1996 adventure film starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer set in Africa at the end of the 19th century.It was directed by Stephen Hopkins and the screenplay was written by William Goldman....
, (1996)
Films:
- The Permanent Way is based on the building of the railway fom Mombasa, through Kenya, to Uganda.
- Out of Africa (1985) shows the railway in many of its scenes
Books:
- Amin, MohamedMohamed AminMohamed "Mo" Amin was a Kenyan photojournalist noted for his pictures and videotapes of the Ethiopian famine....
, Railway Across Equator - Bandopadhyay, BibhutibhushanBibhutibhushan BandopadhyayBibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay was one of the most famous Bengali novelist and writer of modern Bengali literature...
, Chander PaharChander PaharChander Pahar is a famous novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. Chronicling the adventures of a Bengali boy in the forests of Africa...
, a Bengali novel - Hill, M.F., Permanent Way Vol 1: official history
See also
- Kenya Railways CorporationKenya Railways CorporationKenya Railways Corporation , also Kenya Railways is the national railway of Kenya. Established in 1977, KR is a state corporation.- History :...
- Uganda Railways CorporationUganda Railways CorporationUganda Railways Corporation is the parastatal railway of Uganda. It was formed after the breakup of the East African Railways Corporation in 1977 when it took over the Ugandan part of the East African railways....
- Transport in KenyaTransport in KenyaTransport in Kenya compares well with other East African countries. Kenya has an extensive network of paved and unpaved roads. Its railway system links the nation's ports and major cities and connects Kenya with neighbouring Uganda...
- Transport in UgandaTransport in Uganda- Railways :Total:1,241 kmmetre gauge:1,241 km gaugenote:A program to rehabilitate the railway started in , however much of the railway is inoperative....
- MacKinnon-Sclater roadMackinnon-Sclater roadThe Mackinnon-Sclater road was a 600mile/1000km ox cart track from Mombasa to Busia in Kenya started in 1890 by the British East Africa Company . It superseded earlier caravan routes used by slave traders and explorers of the interior....