Ethio-Djibouti Railways

Ethio-Djibouti Railways
Map of the Ethio-Djibouti Railway line
Overview
Other name(s)Franco-Ethiopian Railway (1908–1981)
StatusPartially operational
Termini
Service
SystemHeavy rail
History
OpenedFirst commercial service in 1901, completed in 1917
Superseded byAddis Ababa–Djibouti Railway
Technical
Line length784 km (487 mi)
Track gauge1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) metre gauge
Map
Rail route

The Ethio-Djibouti Railway (French: Chemin de Fer Djibouto-Éthiopien, C.D.E.; Amharic: የኢትዮ-ጅቡቲ ባቡር መስመር) is a metre gauge railway in the Horn of Africa that once connected Addis Ababa to the port city of Djibouti. The operating company was also known as the Ethio-Djibouti Railways. The railway was built in 1894–1917 to connect the Ethiopian capital city to French Somaliland. During early operations, it provided landlocked Ethiopia with its only access to the sea. After World War II, the railway progressively fell into a state of disrepair due to competition from road transport.

The railway has been mostly superseded by the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, an electrified standard gauge railway that was completed in 2017.[1] The metre gauge railway has been abandoned in central Ethiopia and Djibouti. However, a rehabilitated section is still in operation near the Ethiopia-Djibouti border. As of February 2018, a combined passenger and freight service runs two times a week between the Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa and the Djibouti border, stopping at Dewele (passengers) and Guelile (freight).[2] Plans were announced in 2018 to rehabilitate track from Dire Dawa to Mieso.[3]

  1. ^ "Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti railway begins commercial operations". Xinhua. 1 January 2018. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference France24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gorro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).