Which railway, built by the British, connected Mombasa to Lake Victoria?

The railway built by the British that connected Mombasa to Lake Victoria was the Uganda Railway.

Construction began at Mombasa in 1896, when the region was under British colonial rule, and the line reached Kisumu on Lake Victoria in 1901. Although named for Uganda, the original railway ran entirely through what later became Kenya; lake steamers and a branch to Port Bell linked it onward to Uganda.

The project was designed to give Britain strategic access to the interior, support colonial administration, and create a faster alternative to caravan routes. More than 30,000 workers were recruited mainly from British India, and construction faced disease, difficult terrain, and attacks by the famous Tsavo lions.

A common mix-up is “Kenya-Uganda Railway.” That name describes a later administrative successor, while Uganda Railway is the historical name of the original Mombasa–Lake Victoria line. The railway was also nicknamed the “Lunatic Express.”