In Uganda, the first phase of dismantling the 375 km of track has begun.

Since the official launch in October 2020 of the project to rehabilitate 375 km of railway track in Uganda between Tororo and Gulu, work is progressing well. After extensive preparatory work (clearing vegetation, surveying the line, marking rails and sleepers, etc.), the teams from the ETF/SOGEA-SATOM (VINCI Construction) joint venture have begun dismantling the track.

Safety at the heart of operational training

To carry out this project, ETF and SOGEA-SATOM are mainly using local labour from the towns and villages along the railway line. These new operational staff are trained in our railway trades, but also in our corporate culture of safety and prevention.

In France, as abroad, safety on our sites is our top priority. All the teams quickly learned and applied our prevention rules, and also got involved in setting up a daily debriefing of the previous day’s work and organising a warm-up before each day’s work.

Before starting the day’s work, the teams gather around their site manager for a briefing covering the highlights of the previous day, risk prevention, any adjustments to methods and the day’s objectives.

The site manager also organises a daily warm-up session for all operational staff. As well as being enjoyable, this practice helps to prevent musculoskeletal disorders.

Initial dismantling phase

ETF teams have begun dismantling the early 20th-century railway system on the first section of the project. The track components are then taken to a dedicated sorting and repair centre. The vast majority of the rails and sleepers will be repaired and reused in the construction of the new railway line. During this repair phase, SOGEA-SATOM teams will work on the platform and the ballast sub-base.

10 km of track has already been dismantled and the teams are expected to continue making progress, reaching 40 km by the end of May.