The Ethiopian Railway Corporation and the China Engineering Construction (CCECC) signed an agreement for the construction of an electric railway line between Me’eso-Dire Dawa-Dewale, a region which lies in the eastern part of Ethiopia, on the 16th of December.
The Ethiopian Railway Corporation opted for electric railways because they are almost six times cheaper than the diesel powered variety according Doctor Engineer Getachew Betru General Manager of ERC.
CCECC has engaged in railway line projects in other African countries including the Tanzania-Zambia rail connection said Yuan Li President of CCECC. The company has similar projects in Algeria, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone and Turkey he said.Each kilometer, of the 340 km single track rail line, is expected to cost an estimated 3.5 million US dollars. Total expenses for the project will cost an anticipated 1.2 billion birr. The Ethiopian government will cover 40% of the cost with the remainder being financed through a soft loan from China.
The railway project is divided into three with the first section of 137 km, Me’eso-Dire Dawa desgned by Transport and Construction Design Share Company, the second section of 102 km, Dire Dawa- Adi Gala designed by Metaferia Design and Consultancy Company and Spice Designing and Consultancy Company and the final section of 101 km Adi Gala- Dewale designed by Gondwana Engineering and Consultancy Company.
The project is one part of the AddisAbaba- Me’eso- Dire Dawa-Djibouti line. The government of Djibouti is expected to construct the 100 km stretch from Dewale-Doraleh Container Terminal.
Source: Capital
