railways type private consortium industry transportation founded 2005 headquarters nairobi kenya key people titus naikuni 1 chairman carlos andrade 2 group chief executive officer bong yoon chief financial officer services railway systems revenue 84.2 million 3 fy 2014 operating income 11.3 million 3 fy 2014 number of employees 2100 2014 website homepage rift valley railways rvr is a consortium that was established to manage the parastatal railways of kenya and uganda . the consortium won the bid for private management of the century old uganda railway in 2005 . the kenya uganda railway had been run by the east african railways and harbours corporation 1948 1977 . in 2014 rvr moved 1 334 million net tonne kilometers of rail freight up from 1 185 million net tonne kilometers the previous year . 3 contents 1 history 2 original shareholding 3 current shareholding 4 partnerships 5 new financing 6 future investments 7 new developments 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit the railway line derided as the lunatic line by a critical british press during its construction 4 and still referred to colloquially as the lunatic express runs about 900 kilometres 560 mi from kenya s indian ocean port of mombasa through nairobi and up the rift valley to kisumu on the shores of lake victoria . another leg of the same railway system traverses the great rift valley through the town of eldoret in kenya entering uganda at malaba and passing through tororo and jinja to enter kampala uganda s capital . from there the railway continues to kasese in the western region of uganda close to the border with the democratic republic of the congo approximately 1 600 kilometres 990 mi north west of mombasa . at tororo the northern leg of the ugandan railway system branches off and travels north westwards through mbale soroti and lira to the city of gulu the largest metropolitan area in the northern region of uganda . from gulu the line continues west to end in pakwach on the banks of the albert nile approximately 1 500 kilometres 930 mi north west of mombasa . original shareholding edit originally rvr was led by sheltam rail corporation of sheltam trade close corporation stcc of south africa that had experience with managing other african railways . minor partners of the consortium were kenya s prime fuels 15 percent mirambo holdings of tanzania 10 percent and comazar 10 percent and the cdio institute for africa development trust 4 percent both of south africa . the consortium planned to invest in the railway system upgrade it reduce inefficiencies use a smaller work force and generate an annual concession fee of 11.1 percent in each country . in addition it would have paid us 1 million annually for the passenger service concession in kenya and 500 000 annually to uganda for the same reason . on 28 july 2006 the east african standard reported that the take over originally planned for 1 august 2006 was postponed to 1 november 2006 . this take over happened in november and was scheduled to last 25 years . 5 the 2007 2008 kenyan crisis included destructive riots that blocked and partly destroyed the rail system between kenya and uganda leading to difficulties in supply . further destruction and loss of income led to significant financial losses . 6 on 9 october 2008 toll holdings of australia announced that it had entered into a contract to manage the kenya uganda railway replacing the management of rvr . the consortium had been criticized for falling freight traffic in the two years since taking control while the consortium alleged that the drop resulted from the poor condition of the railway infrastructure and the damage done by protesters during the 2007 2008 kenyan crisis . officers from toll subsidiary patrick defence logistics will manage the railway after the transition . 7 as of february 2010 the kenya uganda railway was still under the management of the consortium . citation needed in february 2010 the east african community announced plans to raise capital to upgrade and expand the existing railway network to boost the region s competitiveness . in a related development the egyptian investment company citadel capital bought a 49 percent stake in sheltam railway company of south africa the lead investor in the rvr consortium . 8 during the first quarter of 2010 trans century filed an unsuccessful lawsuit in mauritius where rvr is incorporated in an attempt to block citadel capital s entry into the consortium . 9 press reports from east africa in 2010 indicated that charles mbire a wealthy ugandan entrepreneur who represents uganda on the rvr board of directors had expressed interest in purchasing the 15 percent shareholding that should be reserved for ugandans in the rvr consortium . 10 current shareholding edit in march 2010 the rvr shareholders met in london under binding arbitration . following those talks the new shareholding in rvr was africa railways limited arl 51 percent transcentury of kenya 34 percent and bomi holdings of uganda 15 percent . arl is a subsidiary of citadel capital an egyptian private equity firm . 11 transcentury limited is a private kenyan investment company whose shares are listed on the nairobi stock exchange . citation needed bomi holdings limited is a ugandan investment company owned by charles mbire . 12 the revised shareholding agreement was signed in kampala uganda s capital city on 25 august 2010 . 13 the new owners pledged to invest us 250 million in the consortium to revitalize the railway network . 14 15 in march 2014 trans century limited divested from rvr by selling their 34 percent ownership interest to africa railways for an estimated us 43.7 million . 16 citadel capital has since re branded as qalaa holdings . 17 rift valley railways stock ownership at december 2014 rank name of owner percentage ownership 1 qalaa holdings of egypt 30 2 bomi holdings limited of uganda 18 15 3 other institutions 55 total 100 partnerships edit in november 2010 rvr signed a technical and management agreement with am rica latina log stica all based in curitiba brazil . the firm is the largest independent company of its kind in latin america . it has operations in argentina and brazil where it oversaw the successful privatization of the national railway system . all will provide rvr with key management and operational staff and will oversee the transfer of technology including selection and sourcing of raw material and information technology software and hardware . the initial partnership is for a renewable term of five years starting in november 2010 . 19 new financing edit in march 2011 media reports indicated the rvr intended to raise us 240 million to fund its expansion plans over the next five years . us 140 million will be raised by capital injection by the three corporate investors . the remaining us 100 will be borrowed from commercial banks . rvr already has a credit line estimated at about us 54 million . 20 in july 2011 rvr secured a us 40 million loan from the african development bank to finance its improvements and expansion . in the same month rvr reported a positive ebitda earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization for the year ending 30 june 2011 . this marked the first positive annual ebitda since african railways acquired a 51 percent stake in rvr in late 2009 . 21 in august 2011 east africa media outlets reported that rvr had secured a us 164 million long term loan from a consortium of six international financial institutions which included the international finance corporation kfw the equity bank group and the dutch development bank . 22 another us 80 million will be raised by the shareholders . the difference will be realized from internally generated profits . the total amount needed over the next five years has been revised to us 287 million . 23 future investments edit in august 2011 media outlets in east africa reported that rvr was interested in financing and building the railway line linking juba the capital of south sudan to the industrial town of tororo in the eastern region of uganda at the international border between uganda and kenya a distance of approximately 700 kilometres 435 mi through gulu and nimule . the decision to proceed with this project would require approval from all partners in the rvr consortium and from the governments of uganda and south sudan . 24 with new investments rvr anticipates to cut the transit time for goods between mombasa and kampala to seven days from the current twenty one . in march 2015 rvr stated that it had met the terms agreed with the kenya and uganda governments in may 2014 thereby avoiding cancellation of its licence 25 new developments edit in december 2010 rvr announced plans to increase freight volumes by 350 % in the next year through improved infrastructure in particular upgrading old rails . 26 in september 2012 rvr began a major renovation of its locomotive overhaul facility in nalukolongo a suburb of kampala . during the same month rvr commission a refurbished ferry connecting port bell in uganda to mwanza in tanzania and promised to commission a second vessel on the same route before the end of 2012 . 27 on the line to the south sudan frontier the consortium expected to open the tororo to pakwach section to traffic in december 2012 . 28 however this ambitious time schedule could not be fulfilled . the line northwest from tororo towards pakwach was cleared of vegetation and structures were repaired . the first commercial train in 20 years ran through on the metre gauge track from the kenyan port mombasa to the ugandan town of tororo and onwards to gulu on september 14 2013 . 29 in october 2013 the tororo gulu pakwach line was officially commissioned by the ugandan head of state . 30 meanwhile a plan for a chinese built line from nairobi to mombasa with open access would see rvr competing for business with other operators which may lead to another legal battle . 31 in july 2014 rvr received us 70 million in loan disbursement from a consortium of international financing agencies as part of the us 287 million financing plan for the period 2011 2016 . 32 rvr will use some of the funds to establish passenger commuter service in kampala in collaboration with kampala capital city authority . 33 in february 2015 rift valley railways consortium in collaboration with kampala capital city authority began testing commuter passenger railway service in kampala and its suburbs with a view to establish regular scheduled service beginning in march 2015 . 34 see also edit babcock & brown east african community kampala capital city authority rail transport in kenya kenya railways corporation references edit nation reporter 11 august 2014 . naikuni to chair rift valley railways board . business daily africa nairobi . retrieved 11 august 2014 . group chief executive officer . rift valley railways consortium . retrieved 4 june 2015 . a b c qh . qalaa holdings annual report for year ending 31 december 2014 pdf . qalaa holdings qh . retrieved 4 june 2015 . aboard the lunatic express by linda watanabe mcferrin . retrieved 16 july 2007 . njoka kimathi 28 july 2006 . east africa kenya and uganda railways takeover date postponed . east african standard nairobi . retrieved 5 may 2014 . ahabwe albert 11 february 2008 . kenya railway transport also paralysed . east african business week kampala . retrieved 5 may 2014 . speedy blair 10 october 2008 . toll to manage kenya uganda railway . the australian . retrieved 11 october 2008 . kisero jaindi 15 february 2010 . inside the hostile takeover of rvr . the eastafrican . nairobi . retrieved 19 december 2015 . kisero jaindi 6 january 2010 . egyptians outwit transcentury in bid to