“Think RAIL” - NTU holds pilot kick-off mission in Uganda Railway EU TA project

Between 13^th and 15^th of August, NTU successfully held a pilot kick-off mission to site visit the major upcountry stations of Jinja, Iganga and Tororo along the Eastern railway line as well as meet staff currently posted at the stations. Visits were made to the less operational stations of Mbale and Busembatia too as well as albeit, more active Jinja pier.  The team also made a stop-over at Malaba customs point and had a meeting with the revenue authority officials to get a clear synopsis of the impact improved railway services and overall performance it will have on the current cross-border operations especially with the insurgency of COVID-19 and as well share details to do with the TA teams’ pilot training strategy. This is crucial as customs clearance time at the border is crucial to the transit time that will be experienced by the pilot trains to be implemented by the NTU TA team. The kick-off mission was carried out with accompaniment from the URC team leaders on the Pilot teams set up for implementation of the Pilot training strategy.

The primary purpose of the mission was to meet with the URC staff who have detailed and hands-on knowledge of the operating procedures and conditions of the railway especially outside Kampala as well as discuss about the project and the training plan (Pilot). The secondary purpose was to create visibility and awareness of the work conducted up to date under the project as well as expected outputs.

The push to create visibility for the railway has been complemented by the TA team’s formulation of the “Think RAIL” tagline as an internal campaign to build morale and create awareness for the rail sector as well as the on-going project.

NTU delivered visibility materials and PPE to the staff during the course of the mission. The mission eminently enabled the NTU TA team build a rapport with the staff and gain much needed insights and practical knowledge into the workings of the railway outside Kampala.

The project is entering a very busy period given the ease of the lockdown restrictions with many workshops and training programs already in the pipeline and the kick-off of the Pilot.