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
350px 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
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line 25 kV AC
Operating speed
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.

The railroad was approximately 87% complete as of October 2015 and had been expected to go into operation in 2016. 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. 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.

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. However, the standard gauge railway is being built on a new right-of-way that does not reuse any of the old stations.

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

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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

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

Standards

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

• Gauge: Standard gauge
• Couplers: AAR
• Brakes: Air
• Electrification: Overhead catenary 25kV AC
• Maximum speed (passenger): 160 km/hr
• Maximum speed (freight): 120 km/hr
• Maximum train load (freight): 3000 tonnes gross

Equipment

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

See also

• Railway stations in Ethiopia