Passenger Train to Cross the Nile Again as Railways Prepares Kampala-Jinja Service

What the report says

Uganda Railways Corporation is preparing to bring back passenger trains on the Kampala-Jinja corridor in 2026, according to the Nile Post report. The planned service would begin as a weekend operation, with trains expected to leave Kampala on Fridays and return from Jinja on Sundays. URC says the revival is in its final stages and is intended to give travelers another option on a route that has long depended mainly on road transport.

The proposed service would restore passenger rail between the two cities for the first time since the 1990s, when regular operations on the eastern line were discontinued amid broader railway challenges. The corridor remains important for movement between central and eastern Uganda, and the route to Jinja also has symbolic value because the railway crosses the Nile there.

URC says the weekend schedule could expand later if it acquires more rolling stock, with the longer-term aim of moving toward daily passenger trains. The corporation described the plan as part of wider efforts to strengthen rail transport and improve service coverage.

The report also notes that URC is working on other priorities, including preparations linked to AFCON 2027 and efforts to clear encroachment from railway land. While the immediate plan is limited to a weekend launch, the return of the Kampala-Jinja service would reconnect a major corridor that has lacked regular passenger rail for more than three decades.