President Kagame joined his regional counterparts, President Museveniof Uganda and SalvaKiirof South Sudan to launch the construction of the Malaba-Kampala standard gauge railway line.
The project was launched on October 8, 2014 alongside the 7th Summit of the Heads of State of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects held in Kampala, Uganda.
President Kagame hailed the progress made on the project and urged the Summit to keep up the momentum to enable the process of regional integration.
President Museveni said that the launch will bring a new era of cheaper transport and cheaper electricity.
The East Africa railway line was launched in November 2013 at Mombasa and the signing of the Standard Gauge Railways (SGR) agreement between China and five East African Community member states in Nairobi, Kenya, In may this year.
On the regional level, the planned interstate rail network for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, and South Sudan will open up East Africa’s inaccessible hinterland to great potentials for free movement of goods and services.
The rail is expected to reduce the number of days it takes to transport goods from Mombasa to Kampala to only two days and will enable trains travel at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour.
It is estimated that the rail will be completed by December 2018 in three phases – Mombasa to Nairobi, Nairobi to Malaba/Kisumu and Kampala.