Infrastructure

Ethiopia to Djibouti High-Speed Railway Hailed a Huge Success

The Chinese-built railway began commercial operations on January 1.

Updated on

March 21, 2018

The new Ethiopia-Djibouti railway is praised by its operator, making it a good example of how China is transforming transportation in the eastern African region.

The 756km electrified railway linking landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti on the Red Sea has transported over 2,000 cargo containers from the port to central Ethiopia in its initial two months of operation, revealed the Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Rail Transport S.C.

The Chinese-built railway began commercial operations on January 1 with a flashy ceremony in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopia-Djibouti standard gauge railway, which moves commodities from the Djibouti port to Ethiopia’s Modjo dry port, located 76 km from Addis Ababa, is expected to boost the country’s logistics and freight industry.

The facility can transport 106 containers in a single route.

Tilahun Kassa, the director of Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Rail Transport S.C., said last week that the linkage between the Djibouti port and the Modjo dry port has shown promising early success, anticipated to boost Ethiopia’s export and trade.

Earlier, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Tan Jian said that his country was hopeful that the project would greatly contribute to the industrialization and diversification of the Ethiopian economy.

“It is the first trans-boundary and longest electrified railway on the African continent. We, the Chinese, see this as an earlier harvest project of the Belt and Road initiative,” Jian said during the railway’s opening ceremony on January 1.

“It is regarded by many as a lifeline project for both Ethiopia and Djibouti. And we see this as a railway of development; as a railway of cooperation; and as a railway of friendship,” he added.

The railway project, which was funded by the Chinese to the tune of Sh400 billion, was contracted to China Rail Engineering Corporation (CREC) – which built the first 320 km of the railway; and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) – which erected the remaining 436km connecting to the Djibouti port.

The Ethiopia-Djibouti railway has reduced the journey time from the port to Addis Ababa to about 12 hours from the previous 72 hours. It has also eased congestion at the Djibouti port.