Uganda Railway: Difference between revisions
imported>Martin Wyatt (Created page with "{{subpages}} The '''Uganda Railway''' was a railway constructed at the end of the 19th century, originally from Mombasa to Lake Victoria, later to Kampala. It had rem...") |
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== Construction of first line == | == Construction of first line == | ||
===Proposals from original survey=== | ===Proposals from original survey=== | ||
The British government had been persuaded to back the Imperial British East Africa Company's plans for a railway to Uganda, but on receiving the views of engineers, it decided to commission a survey before putting the project before the House of Commons. The survey report was received in 1893. It proposed a line of 657 miles, with a gauge of 3' 6", a maximum gradient of 1.5% and a maximum curvature of 10°. It would be accompanied by a telegraph line, and it would reach Lake Victoria at the outflow of the river Nzoia at the north-east corner of the lake. There would be one steamer on the lake. An engine of the type used in India was proposed. The report expressed optimism about there being no major difficulties, and showed inadequate knowledge of the country. | |||
===Actual construction=== | ===Actual construction=== | ||
===Engineering problems=== | ===Engineering problems=== | ||
Revision as of 14:30, 9 December 2014
The Uganda Railway was a railway constructed at the end of the 19th century, originally from Mombasa to Lake Victoria, later to Kampala. It had remarkable effects, mostly unintended, on the development of both Kenya and Uganda. The railway later fell into disuse along much of its length, but in 2013 agreements were reached for its reconstruction with a different gauge.
Original purposes
The intentions of the British governments which undertook the building of the line were to assist in the suppression of the slave trade and to maintain British interests in the face of French and German ambitions in the region. In 1890, the same year as Britain declared a protectorate over Uganda,[1] the Brussels conference on the suppression of the slave trade committed the participating European powers to action to stop the Arab trade in slaves from Africa. It specifically mentioned the building of railways and the use of lake steamers. The Imperial British East Africa Company used the treaty as a reason to press the government for construction of a railway. Probably just as important was the fear of the Germans and French becoming considerable powers in the East of Africa. In the various debates in the House of Commons, trade with Uganda was also occasionally mentioned.
Construction of first line
Proposals from original survey
The British government had been persuaded to back the Imperial British East Africa Company's plans for a railway to Uganda, but on receiving the views of engineers, it decided to commission a survey before putting the project before the House of Commons. The survey report was received in 1893. It proposed a line of 657 miles, with a gauge of 3' 6", a maximum gradient of 1.5% and a maximum curvature of 10°. It would be accompanied by a telegraph line, and it would reach Lake Victoria at the outflow of the river Nzoia at the north-east corner of the lake. There would be one steamer on the lake. An engine of the type used in India was proposed. The report expressed optimism about there being no major difficulties, and showed inadequate knowledge of the country.
Actual construction
Engineering problems
Construction of Kampala line
Unintended consequences
Indian settlement
Nairobi
White settlement
Decline and renewal
Notes
- ↑ At this time the term "Uganda seems to have been used loosely, sometimes meaning just the kingdom of Buganda, sometimes including the neighbouring kingdoms making up the present country of Uganda