A railway line linking Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country, and Djibouti, a small nation in the Horn of Africa, has been completed, reducing Ethiopia’s costs for accessing world markets. The railway line, stretching more than 600 kilometers from the capital Addis Ababa to the Port of Doraleh on the Gulf of Aden, runs on electricity and is environmentally friendly, Ethiopian Railway Corporation communications officer Dereje Tefera informs.
Some 90 percent of exports and imports from Ethiopia – a land-locked country – go through Djibouti’s ports. The railway line boasts a 140-millimeter gauge, double-track line and offers both cargo and passenger services.
The passenger train has 41 locomotives in total, and each can pull 30 passenger cars, with a 118-seat capacity per car. The cargo train has the capacity to carry 3,000 tons.
According to Dereje, the project has a USD345 million value. China’s EX-IM bank covered 70 percent of the total cost, while the Ethiopian government put in the balance.
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