Djibouti president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, and Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, attended the ceremonial laying of the last track in a 752-kilometre railway line yesterday (Thursday). The line links the port capital of Djibouti with landlocked Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
The first scheduled train is expected to use the line in October this year, reducing transport time between the capitals to less than 10 hours, rather than the two days it currently takes for heavy goods vehicles using a congested mountain road.
“Some 1 500 trucks use the road every day between Djibouti and Ethiopia. In five years, this figure will rise to 8 000,” said Abubaker Hadi, chairman of Djibouti’s Port Authority. “This is why we need the railway.”
With a capacity of 3 500 tonnes – seven times the capacity of the old line at its peak – the new electrified line will mainly be used for transporting goods.
Djibouti-Ethiopia railway line ready for business
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