Start of Ethiopia-Djibouti railways rehabilitation

August 31, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) — The rehabilitation of a vital railways line linking the landlocked Ethiopia with the Red Sea through Djibouti has begun this week in order to improve of the rail track.

The Ethio-Djibouti Railways is the successor of the Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia and jointly owned by the governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti which received the French shares after its independence in 1977.

The single 781 km railway has a 1,000 mm gauge, most of it on Ethiopian territory and about 100 km in Djibouti.

The project aims at improving the cargo capacity of the rail track to 17 tones, which stands at 14 tones. Upon completion, the project will boost the national trade volume significantly.

It also includes, among others, replacing the 114-Km rail track, maintenance of 40 bridges, and changing nine others along the route.

The enterprise imported from Italy 40-km rail track weighing some 6,000 tones from Italy for the project which is expected to be finalized and go operational next year.

(ST)