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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. The Ethiopian Railway Sector Achievements .................................................................................... 3

2.1. Railway Planning and Design.......................................................................................................... 4

2.2. Railway Construction ......................................................................................................................... 4

2.3. Capacity Building ................................................................................................................................. 9

3. Brief Summary of the Mojo – Moyale Railway Project................................................................ 10

List of Figures

Figure 1 Addis Ababa light railway transit ................................................................................................. 5

Figure 2 Addis Ababa - Djibouti railway project....................................................................................... 6

Figure 3 Awash - Hara Gebeya railway project ......................................................................................... 7

Figure 4 Hara Gebeya - Mekelle railway Project ....................................................................................... 8

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1. Introduction
Ethiopian Railways Corporation has been established to develop and run an integrated
railways infrastructure, passenger and freight operation services and engage in other
related activities necessary for the attainment of its purpose. Since transportation
problems have been encumbering the country from growing to full potential, Ethiopian
Railway Corporation is expected to play significant role in smoothing out the overall
goal of the country to transform from agriculture lead economy to industry lead
economy.

To realize this objective, ERC has laid down a master plan to build 5,000Km railway
network that connects the country’s development corridors and increase accessibility
to sea-port and neighboring economies.

2. The Ethiopian Railway Sector Achievements

Since its establishment for the above very reason Ethiopian Railway Corporation has
been embarking on remarkable achievements on railway transport planning & design,
construction, and capacity building programs.

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 2.1. Railway Planning and Design
Regarding the transport planning and design of the countries railway network has
achieved the following:-
1. ERC has developed master-plan and implementation stages for the national
railway network, alignment selection and geometrical design of the whole
network, and pre-feasibility and bankable feasibility study for the first phase
projects by own-capacity;
2. State of the art air-borne LiDAR survey has been undertaken for the whole
network by international survey contractor (Hansa Luftbild),
3. Preliminary design studies has been done for the Addis Ababa - Djibouti corridor
in collaboration with Addis Ababa University including transport planning and
traffic forecast, environmental and social impact assessment(ESIA), geological
and geotechnical studies, hydrology studies, etc.…
4. At the very moment of implementation, ERC has provided the opportunity to
upgrade the capacity of highway consulting engineering firms by allocating the
preliminary design of the railway network in to 18 different lots. This approach
has opened the eyes of the firms and provided the opportunity to upgrade their
experience in the modern railway sector. As a result of this, currently there are
more-than 5 outstanding local engineering consulting firms engaged in the
railway projects as sub-consultants to the international consulting companies.

2.2. Railway Construction

Regarding the construction railway ERC has achieved a remarkable success:-

1. The construction of Addis Ababa Light Railway has been completed and it has
solved great dill of transportation problem in the capital. Addis Ababa Light Rail
Transit Project won the 2016 C-40 cities award in transportation category, a
prestigious world standard award. In addition the capital Addis Ababa regarded
as one of transport resilient cities in the World because of Addis Ababa Light Rail
Transit. Preparation for the design and construction of the second phase is
underway.

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Figure 1 Addis Ababa light railway transit

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 2. The construction of 656km from Addis Ababa to Dawale in the Ethiopian side,
which is part of Addis Ababa – Djibouti part of railway project has been
completed 100% and inaugurated in September 2016.

Figure 2 Addis Ababa - Djibouti railway project

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 3. The construction of Awash to Mekelle Railway project which encompasses
totally 612Km from (Awash to Hara Gebeya) and (Hara Gebeya to Mekelle) is
undergoing within scheduled time period.

Figure 3 Awash - Hara Gebeya railway project

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Figure 4 Hara Gebeya - Mekelle railway Project

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 4. The design teams in ERC have done concept design, final design review and
approval of link rails of Addis Ababa –Djibouti railway project. These include the
design and construction of railways to connect dry ports and development
corridors along the route to the main line.

2.3. Capacity Building

Regarding Capacity Building of the Local Railway Sector, ERC has the following success
stories:-

1. 56 young Ethiopian Engineers have been sent to study railway engineers in

prestigious transport universities in Russia and China in Masters Level, who has
become pioneers of the railway sectors in Ethiopia. Currently, all of those
trainees have been engaged in design, construction, supervision, and contract
administration of various railway projects; operations and maintenance
management of the transport services, and technical leadership at head office
level.
2. ERC started a Master’s program in Railway Engineering in collaboration with
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT), 326 young engineers were
cultivated in railway track, rolling stock, and power & control engineering. In its
new and vast organizational structure implemented recently, more than 120 of
them (the first batch graduates) are incorporated in different departments, same
as the above. The rest are disseminated to the sector and are absorbed by
contractors, consultants, manufacturers, and policy making entities.
3. ERC has trained 250 staff in middle level professionals at the Tianjin Technical
and vocational College of China in Urban Transit System in the skill of
Dispatching, signaling and communication Rolling stock maintenance and train
driving who are deployed in the Addis Ababa Light Railway Transit in operations
and maintenance activities.
4. ERC in collaboration with Ministry of Education developed Railway
Infrastructure Construction Maintenance, Occupational Standard, Curriculums

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 and Assessment Tools for the middle-level professional training have been
completed years ago. Efforts to train technicians by own capacity was made and
more than 350 railway technicians have been trained who serve as a pool of
technician to be availed for Addis Ababa – Djibouti operation management
contractor.
5. Through the accumulation of the experience in items 1-4, ERC has developed a
strategic master plan to establish an African Railway Academy Institute with a
capacity to train thousands of railway professionals at a time in the heart of the
tourist city Bishoftu, about 40km from the capital Addis Ababa. For the
construction to start land acquisition and finance for undertaking survey, design,
and basic construction works have been secured. The academy is expected to be
realized soon and it will also be a major hub for railway technology, research,
and development for the whole Africa.
6. In this year the Railway Engineering Center of Addis Ababa Institute of
Technology (AAiT) is in process of transforming itself to be African Center of
Excellence in Railway Sector. With support from the World Bank has been
upgraded to an African Railway Education and Research Institute (ARERI) with a
capacity to undertake Master’s and PhD education in different disciplines of
railway for the region. It has already undertaken enrollment of international and
local students for the 2016/17 Academic Year.

The reason why the above explanations are necessary is that, since our achievement in
Ethiopian Railway Corporation is success of all Africa nations that shows us African can
actually plan and perform projects with such a magnitude within short period of time. It
is also to demonstrate you that the potential areas of partnerships beyond integrating
the feasibility study in Ethiopia and Kenya.

3. Brief Summary of the Mojo – Moyale Railway Project

Mojo - Moyale railway project is part of the national railway network-planed to be
realized in the second growth and transformation period (GTP II) of Renaissance
Ethiopia. The project encompasses 903 km of railway line branching to the south at

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Mojo from the Addis Djibouti railway and heads to the south all the way to the Ethiopia-
Kenya border town called Moyale.

Mojo- Moyale Railway Project is also part of the LAPPSSET corridor program, promoted
by the African union (PICI, 2015) which boosts the connectivity and economic
development of three important African countries. Being part of such a key regional
initiative, Mojo-Moyale plays crucial role for the achievement of the LAPSSET corridor
program. Realizing the above project, the Ethiopian government has paid meticulous
attention to the project and undertook the following to date:-

 Listed the project as a priority mega project for financing and implementation;
 Enriched the whole Mojo- Moyale railway corridor with industry parks at
Hawassa, Integrated Agro-Processing Industry Parks at (Bulbula and Yirgalem),
sugar Industries etc.
 In-house design of Mojo- Hawassa Portion of the Mojo-Moyale Railway Project
had been completed and the Shashemene to Moyale part is undergoing;
 Given particular attention for agricultural productivity by the Federal and Local
government along the route that would boost the fright traffic volume for
railway project;
 Promoting Tourism along the whole corridor since the route is known for safari
destination in East Africa;
 Established Mojo-Moyale Railway Project Office in ERC head Quarter to facilitate
the preparation work to switch on the implementation of project.

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