Government warns encroachers on railway land as four locomotives are launched

Government has imported four locomotives to boost the capacity of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) in cargo haulage.

The new four locomotives that were commissioned yesterday are refurbished from South Africa and will facilitate freight services along the Kampala-Naivasha line as the corporation pushes for accelerated rehabilitation of the network.

During the launch, officials said the government should revamp the meter-gauge railway line to save the fast deterioration of roads and reduce costs of doing business.

Unveiling the new locomotives, the state minister for Works, Musa Ecweru assured Ugandans of the government commitment to support and ensure that railway stays afloat.

"I want to assure Ugandans that Uganda Railway Corporation will never go back to the state at which it was. We are going to revive it, and we are going to put resources in it," he said.

He warned encroachers on the railway land and advised them to vacate as soon as possible.

"The encroachers should have left our land and I want to use this chance to warn particularly some of the politicians in the areas where the railway passes who continue to say that the encroachers have a right to stay in what is supposed to be railway property. That is criminal, ”he said.

The managing director of URC, Stanley Sendegeya, said their objective is to repair the old fleet of locomotives to extend full serves to their clients