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Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda Plan Rail Link In 2018
Freight trains loaded with goods from the port of Mombasa are seen at the railway station in Kenya's capital Nairobi, February 25, 2013. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya.
29/08/2013
MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - A railway that runs from Kenya to Uganda will be extended to Rwanda by March 2018 as part of efforts to deepen trade ties in the region, presidents of the three nations said on Wednesday.
The countries, part of the East African Community trade bloc, previously announced plans to extend the line that starts in Kenya's Mombasa seaport but had not given a timing. While extending the line, the existing route will also be upgraded.
"The ministers responsible should put in place a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to ensure the (railway) project remains on course, within budgetary provisions," according to the statement signed by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda's Paul Kagame.
Upgrading the track between Mombasa and Nairobi would start by November.
The presidents earlier witnessed the commissioning of a new $67 million berth with capacity for bigger vessels at the port of Mombasa, the gateway for land-locked east African nations but which suffers from heavy congestion.
The presidents also announced after their meeting that a single east African tourist visa would be in place in January 2014.
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