The Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) announced that the construction of the Awash-Kombolcha Railway Line has reached 97 percent. The 270 Kilometer Railway Line is a first phase of the single line
electrified standard gauge project. Dereje Tefera, Communication Director at ERC said that though the
project’s performance has reached 97 percent, it has not yet gone operational due to lack of power supply.
Dereje told the Amharic Daily Addis Zemen that the project which was set to be completed in 2020 is nearing completion. “As the railway is electrified, ERW has submitted its power supply request to the
concerned body [Ethiopian Electric Power and Utility]. As soon as our request gets a response, the railway line will commence operation.”
On the other hand, the construction of the 120 km second phase WoldiaHara Gebeya project has also reached more than 65 percent. The entire performance of the two projects is reported to be 87 percent.
He also stated that instability in some parts of the project area had been challenging the performance
of the projects, though they are now settled in cooperation with the public. In June 2012, ERC signed an
engineering, procurement and construction contract worth $1.7bn for the Awash Kombolcha-Woldia Hara Gebeya Railway Line project with Yapi Merkezi, a company based in Turkey. The contractual terms
mandate to complete the construction of the new line within 42 months. The new Awash Kombolcha
Woldia/Hara Gebeya Railway Project is an extension project that will connect to Addis Adaba–Djibouti railway line.
The Awash Woldia / Hara Gebeya railway line involves the construction of 400 km of the new railway line, 40 km maintenance lines and 18 km station lines. It also includes construction of new tunnels, three terminal stations with two platforms, and six intermediate stations with a single platform. The total length of the railway line will subsequently be 447 km.
When the project goes fully operational, apart from a swift form of transportation, it will play a pivotal
role to integrate economic and cultural ties among regional states and people of Amhara, Tigray, and Afar.
Herald January 31/2019
LAKACHEW ATINAFU
