Uganda Railways
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| Government-owned corporation | |
| Predecessor | East African Railways and Harbours Corporation |
| Founded | 1977 |
The Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) was the parastatal railway of Uganda. It was formed after the breakup of the East African Railways Corporation (EARC) in 1977 when it took over the Ugandan part of the East African railways.
URC’s system was rooted in the British colonial 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge Uganda Railway that was transformed after World War I into the EARC. Its operation after the demise of the EARC had been hampered by civil war and inefficient management in Uganda. In 1989, government soldiers massacred sixty civilians at Mukura railway station.
Uganda Railways were joint recipients of the 2001 Worldaware Business Award for "assisting economic and social development through the provision of appropriate, sustainable and environmentally complementary transport infrastructure".
In 2005, the Rift Valley Railways Consortium (RVRC) from South Africa was awarded a concession to manage URC and Kenya Railways. RVRC was scheduled to take over operations on 1 August 2006. The East African Standard, however, reported on 28 July 2006 that the take-over was postponed until 1 November 2006. It actually took place in November and was scheduled to last for 25 years.
The 2007–08 Kenyan crisis included destructive riots that blocked and partly destroyed the rail system linking Kenya and Uganda, leading to economic difficulties in supply for Uganda. Further, destruction and loss of income led to significant financial losses. Criticized for a drop in freight traffic, RVRC blamed the poor condition of the railway infrastructure and the damage done by protesters during the 2007–2008 crisis.
On 9 October 2008, Toll Holdings of Australia announced that it had entered into a contract to manage the Kenya-Uganda railway, replacing management by RVRC. Officers from Toll subsidiary Patrick Defence Logistics would manage the railway after the transition.
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