By Stuart Bogere Oswald

KIU, Main Campus - Uganda, through the Railway Corporation of Uganda, has resumed transporting passengers by train services after the partial lifting of a 42-day lockdown at the end of last week, following a reduction in the COVID-19 infection rate. 

According to Uganda Railways Corporation's Commercial Manager Deo Kyomya, they had deployed two trains to carry passengers along two busy routes in the city.

He added that the two coaches will play each route during the morning and evening rush hours and each will carry 50 percent of its capacity as directed by the government in efforts to ease congestion, which is a recipe for spreading the virus.

Kyomya further said that, “we have SOPs (standard operating procedures) in place to guard against the spread of the virus. Each coach will have space for 65 passengers. No mask, no boarding." 

It should be noted that government previously suspended public and private transport amidst a spike in COVID-19 cases. In early June, the country was registering over 1,000 cases of COVID-19 daily but the number reduced to about 70 cases registered per day in late July, according to the Ministry of Health.