Parallel to the existing metre gauge railway between Kampala, Uganda’s capital, and the Kenyan border, the construction of a modern railway line is planned. The joint venture comprising SSF Ingenieure AG (lead signee), SSF International GmbH, Roxplan Engineering Ltd. and Professional Engineering Consultants Ltd. won the contract for design services and supervision of the railway construction.In detail the following the services have been commissioned:
Phase 1: revision of the existing preliminary design and consultation services for the tendering process aimed at construction companies.
Phase 2 (after signing of the construction contract): examination of draft and final design for the construction of the 272-km long normal gauge line Malaba-Kampala (eastern route).
“We are very happy to have received this second large railway contract in East Africa”, states Johannes Frühauf, director of SSF International. “We can apply very well synergies from our current railway project in Tanzania.” In Tanzania, SSF in joint venture is currently contracted for the construction of a 1,200-kilometre long railway line between Dar es Salaam and the town of Mawanza at the Indian Ocean.
Construction works at the Uganda railway line are planned to start in around six months, construction time is 42 months and an additional 36 months guarantee and warranty period.
Technical information about the railway line:
- Route alignment: Eastern Route (Malaba-Kampala), link between the capital city Kampala and the Kenyan border, 272 km, incl. branch lines
- Construction contract: EPC/Turnkey Contracts as per Fidic Silver Book
- Design speed: 120 km/h (passenger trains), 100 km/h (container trains), 80 km/h (freight/trains)
- Axle load: 25 t
- Gauge width: 1,435 mm
- Clearance: AREMA clearance gauge for double-decker container and passenger carriages
- Signalling system: ETCS Level II, baseline 3, level-free crossings for main roads, automatic barrier systems
- Electrification: 2x25 KV auto-transformer system, SCADA
- Shunting and maintenance yard, incl. classification tracks for 500-m long trains, workshop for carriages, passenger trains, locomotives, EMU (electric multiple unit), paint shop, electrified test line, grinding and fuelling line, washing area
- Engineering structures: several bridges and culverts, crossing of the Victoria Nile in Jinja, tunnel in Kampala
