Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway

This article is about the Chinese-built railway that began partial operations in 2015. For the French-built railway completed in 1917, see Ethio-Djibouti Railways.
Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway

Map showing the new standard gauge line in red
Overview
System Heavy rail
Status partwise in operation
Termini Sebeta
Djibouti
Operation
Planned opening 2016 (2016)
Rolling stock 35 Chinese-built locomotives HXD1C
Technical
Line length 656 km (408 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification Overhead line 25 kV AC
Operating speed 160 km/h (99 mph)
Route map
Legend
 Sebeta
 Addis Ababa-Lebu
 Addis Ababa-Kality
 Bishoftu
 Modjo
 Adama
 Welenchiti
 Metehara
 Awash
 Asebot
 Mieso
 Mulu
 Afdem
 Bike
 Erer
 Dirē Dawa
 Shinle
 Harewa
 Adi Gala
 Aysha
 Dewele
 Ali Sabieh
 Djibouti-Nagad
 Djibouti-Port

The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway is a standard gauge railway that links Addis Ababa with the port of Djibouti, providing landlocked Ethiopia with improved railroad access to the sea. In 2011, Ethiopia accounted for 70% of the trade through the port of Djibouti.[1]

The railroad was approximately 87% complete as of October 2015 and had been expected to go into operation in 2016.[2][3] Due to the drought in Ethiopia, opening was pushed forward and a first freight train used this line 20 November 2015 carrying grain along the partially completed line to Merebe Mermersa, 112 km south of Addis Ababa using a diesel locomotive.[4][5] The prime contractors were the China Railway Group and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. Financing for the new line was provided by the Exim Bank of China, the China Development Bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.[6]

The railway runs parallel to the abandoned Ethio-Djibouti Railway, a meter-gauge railway that was originally built by the French between 1894 and 1917.[7] However, the standard gauge railway is being built on a new right-of-way that does not reuse any of the old stations.[8]

The line is double-track for the first 115 km, from Addis Ababa to Adama, and single-track thereafter.[9]

History

As the Ethio-Djibouti Railway deteriorated from lack of maintenance, Ethiopia lost railroad access to the sea. The existing meter gauge railway had been built by the French in the 1890s to 1910s and had all the deficiencies of a colonial-era railway, with steep gradients and tight curvatures.[10] Since China was financing the construction of a standard gauge railway network in East Africa, Ethiopia chose to abandon the meter-gauge railway and build a new standard gauge link.

In 2011, the Ethiopian Railway Corporation awarded contracts to two Chinese state-owned companies for the construction of a new standard gauge railway from Addis Ababa to the Djibouti border. A 320 km stretch from Addis Ababa to Mieso is being built by the China Railway Group.[11] The 339 km section from Mieso to the Djibouti border is being built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation at a cost of $1.12 billion.[12] In 2012, Djibouti awarded a $505 million contract to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to complete the final 100 km to the port of Djibouti.[13]

In 2013, loans totaling $3 billion were secured from the Exim Bank of China, with $2.4 billion going to the Ethiopian section of the railway and the balance to be spent in Djibouti.[14]

Track-laying was completed on the Mieso-Djibouti segment of the project in June 2015.[15]

Standards

The Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway was built to Chinese railway standards.

Equipment

CSR Zhuzhou is supplying 35 HXD1C electric locomotives, each with 7.2 MW of power.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Maasho, Aaron (December 17, 2011). "Ethiopia signs Djibouti railway deal with China". Reuters. Ethiopia and Djibouti's economies are reliant on each other with about 70 percent of all trade through Djibouti's port coming from its land-locked neighbour.
  2. ↑ "East Africa: Milestone Reached On Ethio-Djibouti Railway". AllAfrica. 26 October 2015. The Ethio-Djibouti Railway Project under construction by two Chinese companies, recently reached an 87pc milestone, said Getachew Betru, CEO of the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC). He added that he expects completion in the next few months.
  3. ↑ Maasho, Aaron (January 28, 2015). "Ethiopia says new railway to Djibouti to start in early 2016". Reuters. By October 2015, a considerable portion of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti project will be finished," Getachew Betru, chief executive of the Ethiopian Railways Corporation, told Reuters, adding trains would run soon after. "We will start early 2016.
  4. ↑ "Ethiopia – Djibouti railway carries first freight". Railway Gazette. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Harper, Mary (23 November 2015). "Can Ethiopia’s railway bring peace to Somalia?". BBC World Service News,. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Maasho, Aaron (December 17, 2011). "Ethiopia signs Djibouti railway deal with China". Reuters. CCECC and China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) have won tenders for other sections of the 656-kilometre build. Those companies have brokered loans for Ethiopia from China's EXIM Bank, Development Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Getachew said.
  7. ↑ Blas, Javier (November 27, 2013). "Chinese investment triggers new era of east African rail building". ThHe Financial Times. This line, whose building started several months ago, runs parallel to the abandoned Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia track built between 1894 and 1917.
  8. ↑ Vaughan, Jenny (March 10, 2013). "China's Latest Ethiopian Railway Project Shows Their Growing Global Influence". Agence France Presse. But he said that if the old train ceases to operate, it will be a great loss for Ethiopia and for Dire Dawa, the commercial town in northeastern Ethiopia where the main train station and workshops were headquartered. The new station is slated to be built just outside Dire Dawa, a town renowned for its French atmosphere. "Dire Dawa will suffer," said Josef, who is now the director of the French cultural centre in the city. The train station -- known locally as "la gare" -- and the workshops still stand, unused for years.
  9. ↑ "China's CREC to complete section of Ethiopia's key railway project". China Daily USA. Xinhua. May 19, 2015. The Sebeta/Addis Ababa-Mieso railway project covers a total length of 329.145 km. The Ababa-Adama section is a double track with 115 km length while the Adama-Mieso is a single track covering 214.145 km.
  10. ↑ "Briefing Memorandum: The Djibouti-Ethiopia Railway" (PDF). ICA Meeting: Financing Transport for Growth in Africa. December 3–4, 2007. According to the results of the rehabilitation pre-feasibility study, sections of the railway are laid at steep gradients and have curvatures that require modification in order to use upgraded locomotives at full capacity.
  11. ↑ "Chinese, Ethiopian firms sign railway project deal". China Daily USA. Xinhua. October 26, 2011. The Ethiopian Railway Corporation and the China Railway Group Limited (CREC) on Tuesday signed an accord that enables the latter to construct railways that runs from Sebeta town, some 25 km away from Addis Ababa upto Meiso town in the east of Addis Ababa. The total distance of the railway project covers some 320 km, according to the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC).
  12. ↑ Berhane, Daniel (December 18, 2011). "Second Chinese company signs up for Ethio-Djibouti rail route". Horn Affairs - English. China Civil Engineering Construction Cooperation (CCECC) signed an agreement on Friday for the construction of the second half of the new Ethiopian – Djibouti rail route. ... The cost of the project is estimated about 1.12 Billion USD – about 3.3 million USD per kilometer.
  13. ↑ "Contract signed for final section of new Djibouti - Ethiopia railway". Railway Gazette. 16 February 2012. The government has awarded China Railway Construction Corp a contract to build its 100 km section of the new standard gauge railway which will replace the out-of-use metre-gauge line from the coast to Addis Abeba in Ethiopia. Announcing the US $505m contract covering the Djibouti section of the route on February 15, CRCC said work was expected to take 60 months. The contractor will arrange Chinese financial support for the project.
  14. ↑ Yewondwossen, Muluken (27 May 2013). "Ethiopia, Djibouti secure $3 bln loan for railway project". Capital Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) and the Djibouti government have secured nearly three billion dollars loan from the Chinese Export Import (EXIM) Bank for the construction of the railway project that stretches from Addis Ababa to Djibouti.
  15. ↑ "China's CCECC completes track laying of Ethiopia- Djibouti railway". China.org.cn. Xinhua. June 13, 2015. Archived from the original on June 14, 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 "Project Description: Addis Ababa – Djibouti Railway" (PDF).
  17. ↑ Molinari, Michele (June 3, 2015). "Ethiopia turns big plans into reality". International Railway Journal. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015.
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