By Our Reporter
RVR the concessionaire for the Kenya Uganda Railway has achieved the 1737 (in Kenya) and 250 (in Uganda) Net Ton per Kilometer (NTK) targets set by the Governments of Kenya and Uganda under the revised terms agreed upon in the first quarter of 2014 that gave the company 9 months to increase its freight volume numbers.
Attaining the targets means the company has reached the last of three Key Performance Indicators that were set under the amended concession agreement signed by RVR and the two Governments when the new shareholders of RVR came on board in 2011. The other indicators included clearing of outstanding concession fees accumulated by the previous management, making timely payments of the current concession fees and making investments into the railway of at least 40 million dollars in the first five years in infrastructure and rolling stock.
Making the announcement in a press statement today the Group CEO of RVR Carlos Andrade said,
“Achieving this milestone is very important because it proves the railway is tangibly turning around as a result of investments made by the shareholders. When they took over the railway concession 4 years ago no significant investments had been made in the railway in almost 25 years. Since then RVR has replaced over 140 of kilometres of tracks, acquired 34 locomotives to increase haulage capacity and introduced automated systems that have improved commercial processes. This has resulted in improved reliability and performance which have brought renewed confidence in the Kenya Uganda railway as a viable means of transportation this is the prime reason why our freight figures have increased.