The Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway is a new standard gauge international railway that serves as the backbone of the new Ethiopian National Railway Network. The railway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on January 1, 2018. Opened: 1 January 2018 Stations: 21 (15 for passengers) Line length: 759 km (472 mi) Loading gauge: 5300 mm Track gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge Owners: Ethiopia, Djibouti Terminis: Sebeta, Port of Doraleh, Djibouti

1. ETHIO-DJIBOUTI
RAILWAY LINE MODERNIZATION PROJECT
TAJU ABDULAZIZ 19MCL021
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
(IEM – M.Tech Program)
Guided by
KUSUM JAIN
Feb,2020

2. CONTENTS
Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021

3. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
Project overview • PROJECT TYPE: Railway modernization
• CONSTRUCTION STARTED: 2011
• OPENING: October 2016
• LENGTH: 752.7km
• INVESTMENT: $4bn
• CONTRACTORS: China Railway Group and China Civil Engineering
Construction Corporation
• OWNER: Ethiopia & Djibouti
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021
Useful Abbreviations
 ERC -Ethiopian Railway Corporation
 SDCF -Djiboutian Railway Company (Societe Djiboutienne de Chemin de Fer).

4. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
Project overview
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021
Source: thediplomat.com

5. • The 752.7km Ethiopia-Djibouti railway modernisation
project, also known as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti
railway, is the first modern electrified railway line in
East Africa. The project is jointly owned the
governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti and constructed
by China Railway Group and China Civil Engineering
Construction Corporation (CCECC).
• The modernization is expected to provide landlocked
Ethiopia with faster access to the port of Djibouti.
• In November 2015, the first freight services on the line
began. The first train containing 1,125t of international
food assistance departed from Djibouti to Ethiopia in
December 2015.
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021
Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
Project overview
• The line was formally inaugurated for passenger services in October 2016.

6. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
Project background and details
• The railway connecting Ethiopia with Djibouti via Dire Dawa is a
780km metre-gauge line opened in 1917. It is the only railway line
that connects landlocked Ethiopia with Djibouti Port, a major
cargo entry point, but deteriorated due to a lack of maintenance
and management.
• A pre-feasibility study conducted in 2007 highlighted the
importance of renovating the line from an economic and financial
perspective.
• The modernisation involved replacing the metre-gauge section
with a 1,435mm gauge line, and electrification at 25kV. Designed
to accomodate trains travelling at 120km/h, the new line was
constructed in compliance with Chinese electrified railway
standards.
• Chinese staff will manage operations on the line for five years,
during which local employees will be given specialist training on
the operations.
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021

7. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
The construction
• Construction on the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway
project was initiated in 2011 and completed in
October 2016.
• It involved laying double-track for the first
115km from Addis Ababa to Adama, and single
track for the remaining 600km to Djibouti.
• The construction employed approximately
20,000 local workers in Ethiopia and 5,000 in
Djibouti.
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021

8. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
Rolling Stock
• CSR Zhuzhou was awarded a contract to provide three
passenger and 32 freight electric locomotives for the
Ethiopia-Djibouti line in June 2014.
• The rolling stock consists of first and second-class
coaches, dining cars and potentially sleeping cars.
• The trains can withstand the region’s adverse
conditions, including the 2,000m altitude difference,
daytime temperatures up to 50°C and cold nights.
• The freight trains operated on the line range from flat-
wagons to transport containers.
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021
Locomotives Coaches/wagons
41 1,130

9. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
Shareholders
• Ethio-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Share Company (or
Shortly Ethio-Djibouti Railway (EDR)) was established in April
2017, based on the Bilateral Agreement signed on 16th of
December 2016 between the two states, the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of Djibouti. The
Shareholders Agreement subsequently signed on the 11th day of
January 2017 among Public Bodies and State Enterprises of the
two countries, to be administered pursuant to the commercial
laws of Ethiopia.
• The Shareholders have agreed to establish an Ethiopian share
company, having an initial share capital of USD 500,000,000.00
consisting of 10,000 shares of USD 50,000.00 each, for the
purpose of Operating and Maintaining the (Addis Ababa –
Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway) Line (including the maintenance
and renewal of all of the Line infrastructure and equipment) and
operating freight and passenger transport services on the Line.
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021
Following the decisions of the Board of Directors, EDR had commenced the Operation and Maintenance activities
of the Railway on January 1, 2018 after a general takeover agreement between the EDR and the respective Railway
Companies (ERC and SDCF).

10. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
Financing the Project
• "The line was formally inaugurated for passenger services in
October 2016."
• The Ethiopia-Djibouti project was planned to be constructed with
a total investment of $4bn. The Ethiopian section of the line cost
$3.4bn, 70% of which was provided by China Exim Bank and 30%
by the Ethiopian government.
• The Djibouti Government contributed $878m for the project.
• In 2017, the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) faced financial
issues without having finished the project and the connecting
infrastructure on time.
• According to an article published by one of the embassies of
Ethiopia, the total cost of construction reached $4.5 billion, at
least half a billion more than originally planned.
• According to reports, ERC had a stunning $3.7 billion in debt at the end of 2016, and had
already started to repay those loans — without a functioning railway connection.
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021

11. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
Operators
Contractors Involved
• In October 2011, China Railway Engineering Corporation
(CREC) was awarded a $1.53bn engineering,
procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build
the 328.959km railway section between Sebeta / Addis
Ababa and Miesso.
• China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEC) was
contracted to design the Sebeta-Adama-Mieso section in
February 2012.
• The contract for a 339km section, stretching from Miesso
to Ethiopa’s border with Djibouti, was awarded to China
Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
• Finally, China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC)
was awarded a $505m contract to build the 100km-long
Djibouti section in February 2012.
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021

12. Project overview
Project background and details
The construction
Rolling stock
Shareholders
Financing the project
Contractors involved
OperatorsOperators
China Railway Group Ltd: until 2023
China Civil Engineering Construction Corp: until 2023
 Ethio-Djibouti Standard Gauge Rail Transport S.C.: from 2024
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021

13. CONCLUSION
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021
• The 752.7km Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway, is the first modern electrified railway line in East Africa which is
jointly owned by Ethiopia and Djibouti and constructed by Chinese company.
• The modernization involved replacing the previous meter-gauge section with a 1,435mm gauge line, and
electrification at 25kV.
• Chinese staff will manage operations on the line for five years, during which local employees will be given
specialist training on the operations.
• The project was planned to be constructed with a total investment of $4bn. The Ethiopian section of the line
cost $3.4bn, 70% of which was provided by China Exim Bank and 30% by the Ethiopian government. And,
according to an article published by one of the embassies of Ethiopia, the total cost of construction reached
$4.5 billion, at least half a billion more than originally planned and ERC had a stunning $3.7 billion in debt at
the end of 2016, and had already started to repay those loans — without a functioning railway connection.
• The Shareholders have agreed to establish an Ethiopian share company, having an initial share capital of USD
500,000,000.00 consisting of 10,000 shares of USD 50,000.00 each, for the purpose of Operating and
Maintaining and renewal of the Line.
• Ethio–Djibouti Railway Has Secured More Than $20 Million In Revenue From Its Freighter And Passenger Train
Services from the first Eight Months of it’s operation.

14. Thank you!
TAJU ABDULAZIZ M.Tech |Infrastructure Engineering and Management 19MCL021