Plans to revive historic Kenya-Uganda railway a.k.a. 'the Lunatic Express'
At 10 o'clock on a hot and humid Kenyan morning, as the sun rises above the Rabai hills that slope down towards the port of Mombasa, Frederick Omondi finds himself peering underneath a train carriage. "It is OK," he says. "It is only a burst pipe."
The Nairobi-Mombasa train left the cool of Kenya's capital 15 hours ago. It was supposed to arrive in Mombasa at 8 o'clock this morning but three breakdowns -- make that four now there is a burst pipe -- have delayed it...
This railway heralded the birth of modern-day Kenya and Uganda. Stretching 657 miles from the humid coastal port of Mombasa, climbing through the desert of eastern Kenya, dipping into the Rift Valley, heading towards Lake Victoria, then turning once more towards Uganda's capital, Kampala, the railway enabled Britain to impose imperial rule across east Africa...
Dismissed by opposition parliamentarians as a "gigantic folly", the railway took six years and £5m to build -- a colossal sum in 1895. More than 600 workers died -- many from malaria, some from attacks by lions.
It was nicknamed the "Lunatic Express" and over the past few decades that name has become pertinent once more. Chronic underinvestment and corruption has left the railway a shadow of its former self...
A new consortium aims to change that. Rift Valley Railways, backed by a South African transport firm, took over the company late last year and plans to return the Lunatic Express to its former glory. They will have a lot of work to do. New track needs to be laid, new engines and carriages introduced, and services need to be improved.
Read entire article at Independent
The Nairobi-Mombasa train left the cool of Kenya's capital 15 hours ago. It was supposed to arrive in Mombasa at 8 o'clock this morning but three breakdowns -- make that four now there is a burst pipe -- have delayed it...
This railway heralded the birth of modern-day Kenya and Uganda. Stretching 657 miles from the humid coastal port of Mombasa, climbing through the desert of eastern Kenya, dipping into the Rift Valley, heading towards Lake Victoria, then turning once more towards Uganda's capital, Kampala, the railway enabled Britain to impose imperial rule across east Africa...
Dismissed by opposition parliamentarians as a "gigantic folly", the railway took six years and £5m to build -- a colossal sum in 1895. More than 600 workers died -- many from malaria, some from attacks by lions.
It was nicknamed the "Lunatic Express" and over the past few decades that name has become pertinent once more. Chronic underinvestment and corruption has left the railway a shadow of its former self...
A new consortium aims to change that. Rift Valley Railways, backed by a South African transport firm, took over the company late last year and plans to return the Lunatic Express to its former glory. They will have a lot of work to do. New track needs to be laid, new engines and carriages introduced, and services need to be improved.