The Northern Corridor is a complex, multimodal transport ecosystem linking the maritime Port of Mombasa to the heart of the Great Lakes Region. NCTTCA is dedicated to transforming this network into an efficient and sustainable development pathway by coordinating the planning, maintenance, and modernization of critical physical assets. From the deep-water berths of Mombasa to the road, rail, and pipeline arteries reaching our landlocked Member States, we ensure that infrastructure development aligns with international standards to reduce transit times and enhance regional integration.
East African Regional cooperation initiatives have mainly focused on joint efforts to modernize railway network and development of an African railway network with the ultimate objective of Member States having a standard railway policy. The East African Railway Master Plan was implemented to guide the future development of railway services in the region. The Master Plan is a proposal to rejuvenate existing railways serving Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda, and to extend them initially to Rwanda and Burundi, and eventually to South Sudan, Ethiopia, and beyond.
The Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Agreement also provides a solid basis for structuring legal cooperation and a framework for railway sector development among the Northern Corridor Member States. These regional legal and institutional frameworks, among others, are expected to drive multi-lateral initiatives in railway development in the region
The Northern Corridor Railway network comprises of the Metre Gauge Railway and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
The total length of the meter gauge rail (MGR) network is 8,206 Km in the Northern Corridor, out of which Kenya accounts for 1,787 Km; Uganda comprises 1,221 Km, DRC accounts for 5,033 Km and South Sudan 165 Km.
The total length of the standard-gauge rail is 472 km from Mombasa to Nairobi, designed to carry 22 million tonnes of cargo per year, or a projected 40% of Mombasa Port throughput by December 2035. The SGR line is 120 Km from Nairobi to Naivasha. The standard gauge rail has 56 locomotives operating from the port of Mombasa to ICD Nairobi at Embakasi out of which 8 are used for shunting, 43 locomotives are used for freight services, and 5 are used for passenger services.
Rwanda currently has no railway network, so most trade is conducted by road. The SGR mainline from Mombasa to Kampala is planned to connect to the line from Kigali-Kampala on the Northern Corridor, whereas on the Central Corridor, Isaka-Kigali will be the mainline. The Kigali-Rubavu branch line will link Rwanda to the DRC. The plan to extend a branch line from Isaka in Tanzania to Kigali is well in advance.
The current progress of implementation of SGR in Kenya along the Northern Corridor is as follows:
