Rail transport in Rwanda
Encyclopedia
There are currently no railway lines in Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, although various plans to construct railways have been proposed, including a proposed line to Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

.

Burundi / Rwanda rail plans of 2000

In 2000 Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

 and Rwanda announced plans to build a rail line linking their two countries to the Tanzanian rail network, and thus to 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...

 port of Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...

.

2006 delay

According to the Rwanda News Agency the African Development Bank
African Development Bank
The African Development Bank Group is a development bank established in 1964 with the intention of promoting economic and social development in Africa...

 was responsible for a 2006 delay in surveying the route of a rail link from Isaka through Rwanda's capital Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...

 to Bujumbura
Bujumbura
-Education:The University of Burundi is located in Bujumbura.Hope Africa University is located in BujumburaUniversité du Lac Tanganyika is located in Bujumbura-External links:**...

.
The initial feasibility study was to cost $2.7 million dollars. According to the Rwandan News Agency officials stated the African Development Bank was to have loaned 90% of the cost of the railway, with the remainder paid by Tanzania and Rwanda.

The Rwanda News Agency reported that an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n firm named RITES was expected to take over the contract for the management of the Isaka line.

A delegation from the American railroad BNSF also met with President Paul Kagame to discuss a route from Kigali to Isaka and at the same time the government announced that it had selected a German consulting company to undertake pilot work for the proposed mail line.

Chinese survey of 2007

China had played a big role in building the Tanzania's rail network, and in 2007 conducted a survey for extending the network into Rwanda.

2008 plan

On January 26, 2008 Rwanda's President announced plans for BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...

 to build a link from Rwanda's capital Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...

 to Tanzania's rail network in Isaka
Isaka
Isaka is a small town and station on the Mwanza railway line of Tanzania which connects to the seaport of Dar es Salaam. In the 1980s a so-called dry port was established there to serve the landlocked countries of Burundi and Rwanda, since Isaka is on a highway, now paved, running 610 km from...

 Tanzania.
Some reports state the new line would be a narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

, like the rest of Tanzania's rail service. Other reports state that Tanzania has already decided to upgrade its Isaka line to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

, and that the Isaki-Kigali link would also be standard gauge. Yet other reports state that the Isaka-Rwanda leg would be of standard gauge and that cargo would be transshipped to different rolling stock in Isaka.

According to Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

political unrest in neighboring 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...

 has disrupted the reliability of road and rail service through Kenya, and the Rwandan line would allow rail transport to bypass Kenya if rail transport was disrupted there in future.

The proposed plan was projected to be complete by 2013. Projected costs have not yet been announced.

Technical measures to overcome Break of Gauge

On 31 May, 2008, a proposal to link the railways of Egypt, gauge, and Sudan, gauge, surfaced, with "Technical measures" to overcome the Break of gauge. What exactly these technical measures are was not revealed, but they presumably could be used on the new line to Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...

.

Rail links with adjacent countries

(Links to adjacent Rail transport pages) Democratic Republic of Congo
Rail transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Rail transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congois provided by the Congo Railroad Company and the Office National des Transports and the Office of the Uele Railways .The national system is mostly operated by the Société Nationale des...

 - gauge Burundi - no railways yet Uganda - gauge Tanzania
Rail transport in Tanzania
Rail transport in Tanzania is conducted by two companies:* Tanzania Railways Corporation* TAZARA- Railway links with adjacent countries : Burundi - no - proposed DR Congo - decades ago there was a train ferry between Kigoma and Kalemie, in 2007 there are no ferry links and the DR Congo line to...

 - and TAZARA - construction to start soon.

External links

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