Kafrican
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 26, 2015
- 7,251
- 7,037
Feasibility study ilisema Kenya haina uwezo waku support reli ya stima na haitakua na uwezo huo kwa ile miaka ambayo SGR inajengwa kutoka Mombasa hadi Kisumu, na tunacho hitaji kuwa na uwezo huo ni kutumia capital nyingi ili kuwekeza katika kuzaliha na kusambaza umeme ambao utakua upo 24/7 bila kufeli........
Anyway ndugu zetu Wa-Ethiopia walikamilisha ujenzi wa reli yao ya stima Oct, 2016, Miezi kumi kabla ya Kenya kumaliza Ujenzi wake wa reli ya Diesel.... Kenya ilipomaliza Ujenzi, reli yake ilianza kuchapa kazi siku moja tubaada ra kuzinduliwa rasmi, reli ya Ethiopia ina hadi leo bado kuna mushkil kiasi, nawaombea hizi shida ziwe ni shida za mwanzo mwanzo tu, yani shiida mbazo zitaisha, miaka mitano baadae wawe walisahau aibu hii ndogo....
Ikumbukwer kwa sasa Ethiopia iko na umeme ambao ni zaidi ya nci za EAC zote ukijumlisha,kwasasa Ethiopia wako na 4,290MW za umeme, kwavile si wananchi wengi wanautumia, umeme huu hua unaumika sana na viwanda, alafu ule unao baki wanauzia nchi jirani kama dgibouti,Sudan... Kenya nayo hununua hadi 400MW kila maka kutoka Ethiopia... Yani kwa ufupi Ethiopia wako na umeme wa kutoshleza mahitaji ya SGR yao hata ziwe mbili
Ethiopia also started selling its power to Kenya last year under the East Africa Community Power Pool agreement even though Kenya said that there wasn’t any electricity business between the two countries.
Despite this claim, data from KNBS shows that Kenya has bought 446MW from Ethiopia in the last nine months. In August last year, Ethiopia said that it was planning to export up to 400 MW to Kenya annually.
Kenya stops importing power, now generates over 2000MW
Shida zinazo kumba Kenya, na kama utavyosoma taarifa ifyatayo, pia Ethiopia ni kwamba umeme uko wa kutosha lakini shida inatokana na insufficient Grid supply ...... SR inahitaji uninturrupted power supply yani iwe umeme haupotei abisa liwe liwalo....
Tushukuru serikali kwa kusikilisa advice ya feasibility study na kununua vyuma vya diesel, na pia kuzingatia mahitaji ya mazingira na kuweka fence kuanzia obasa hadi nairobi, ethiopia hawakuweka fence sasa emekua kero tupu..... Lakini pia kutoka Ethiopia, kenya ina mengine ya kujifunza haswaa ile siku tukiunganisha reli yetu na nchi jirani, mamboya immigration italeta shida kidogo....
TRAIN TRAVEL IN ETHIOPIA
Addis Ababa - Diré Dawa - Djibouti train service...
A brand new Chinese-built standard gauge line formally opened between Addis Ababa in October 2016, replacing the old colonial metre-gauge line which ran until 2010. Passenger services started on the new line in January 2018. If you have any feedback please get in touch!
The times below are approximate times taken from an internal timetable graph, treat with caution. But as the company has singularly failed to put any official times online, they are at the best you'll find on the internet at the time I write this!
* = It runs on odd-numbered or even-numbered dates in each direction, but it is not know which days it runs. Ask at the station.
Addis Abeba to Djibouti via the new line is 728 km. See useful country information: Visas, currency, dialling code...
The stations are new & not yet shown on Google Maps: Map showing Addis Ababa Lebu station & road access. Map showing Djibouti Nagad station. Many taxi drivers don't yet know where it is!
How much does it cost?
Photos in this section are courtesy of Clément. If you get any further photos of the train, restaurant car or scenery, please get in touch!
Addis Ababa Lebu station...
Inside Lebu station...
The train to Djibouti about to leave Addis Ababa Lebu station...
Road kill - rather, rail kill - seems to be an issue.
Hard seats... Hard class class regular seats...
Soft sleeper... 4-berth compartments. It's not known what terminology is used in Ethiopia, possibly VIP berths.
Hard sleeper. 6-bunk open compartments. It's not known what terminology is used locally, possibly regular berths.
The daily train on its way from Addis Abeba to Djibouti...
Travellers' reports...
Traveller Clément reports from the first public run in January 2018: "A contact told me the train left at 8am. I arrived at the train station of Furi-Lebu at 7am. The ticket counters are on the right of the station. They were surprised I was going to Djibouti as all the other passengers would stop at Dire Dawa. If you go to Djibouti, make sure you already have a visa even if you are entitled to get a visa at the border, otherwise they'll most probably deny selling you a ticket to Djibouti. Even though it is in the same building, you have to go outside in order to get in the waiting hall. The federal police does a thorough search of your bags when entering the hall. They stop letting you in 5 minutes before departure. The train starts as soon as all passengers are on. Since we were only 20ish passengers, it departed at 7:55. There is a counter for the Ethiopian customs to check border crossing passengers, but it was closed and I was told we'd do the immigration stuff at the border. The Chinese management company told the two governments to install Djiboutian immigration counters in Ethiopian stations and vice versa to speed up the process at the border but the governments haven't yet agreed on the formalities. Hopefully, it should change as they get more international passengers. The train is managed by a Chinese company though the hostess and a few other staff are Ethiopians . The Chinese manager told me we would arrive at 8pm rather than the scheduled 6pm because usually there are power cuts and stops for various reasons.
The train has 1 car with VIP 4-berth compartments, 1 car of 6-berth open compartments with seats and power outlets in the hallway, 1 dining-car selling very basic food (a basic "sandwich", some cookies, chips and water - though it was their inaugural journey) and 8 hard-seats cars with 118 seats. Dining and hard seat cars only have power outlets for the attendants. The train currently stops in Adama and Dire Dawa only as the other stations are not ready and not yet staffed. We stopped twice between Lebu and Adama, including once for 5 minutes because we hit a goat at a road crossing (the management company then sends some of its local staff to pay compensations). We arrived in Adama at 9:15 and stopped for about 40 min for an unknown reason. The train then passes through less populated areas at between 90 and 100 km/h; you're in the very basalt-y plain of the rift valley, surrounded by soon-to-be woken small volcanoes. After riding 2h15 from Adama, the train stopped in the bush not far from Metehara. I saw a goat on the side that couldn't seem to use its back legs. I thought it was giving birth ("cuuuute") until I realized there were more inanimate goats a few meters further. The train had gone full speed through a herd, killing 30. Locals came and there were soon 30ish people around the train. The four federal police guys who are always aboard the train went to discuss with them as usual. However the shepherd didn't want to let the train go until he gets compensated (for 70 goats, since some were pregnant and some cubs need their dead mother...). More federal and local police came, about 20 in total. The train left after 7 (!) hours of negotiations which, according the the Chinese boss in the train, included some calls to the Ethiopian minister of transport and the head of the federal police in Addis, at dusk (I suspect the shepherd let it go because they had to go home for diner, otherwise they would have stayed!). The boss told me "they do it on purpose to get money. They ask an unreasonable price. The other day we killed 12 camels and they asked for a million birr".
We then went straight to Dire Dawa. The train was so late than we stopped in Dire Dawa for the night. It was supposed to leave Dire Dawa for Djibouti at 2:52 pm; we arrived at 9:30pm. The train managers were very sorry and stressed that it is the very beginning of the operations and it will improve with time.(Hope you imprrove very soon) They were pretty efficient in managing the situation, booked a hotel in Dire Dawa and took us there by 4x4 even though I told them I wouldn't mind sleeping in the train. Next day, the train was supposed to leave to Djibouti after midday, as the train from Djibouti was due to arrive at 11:30ish, and there is only one track on most of the journey. I got a phone call at 9:40am saying a car is waiting for us at the hotel to take us to the station. Once at the station (about 20 min from the centre on a soon-to-be-paved road), the federal police didn't want to let me in until the Ethiopian immigration guy checks my passport. Re-thorough bag check, then a guy used the immigration counter to register my departure from Ethiopia. Having lived here for 2 years, I expected a wide range of possible problems (no internet connection, fingerprint machine or camera not working...). However it went pretty smoothly, albeit a bit slow, about 10 min. The train waited for me since I represented 50% of the 2 passengers.
We left at 10:40. After 1h40 of normal ride the train got stuck for 30min in the desert because there was no electricity. Then we were running at 110 km/h according to the GPS. We stopped again because of power failure at 13:15 and power came back 1h later. Apparently they once got stuck for 10h... We stopped at Ayesha station 40 km from the Djibouti border for 30 min to meet the train from Djibouti and leave half the crew to join it. The other train has about 30 Djiboutian passengers. Then another 2-min stop as we killed a young camel. Ouch! No-one was around so we continued. We arrived at the border at 3:35pm. We were waiting for the Ethiopian immigration guys to come from the border for the 2 Ethiopian ladies of the dining car as the other passenger and I already got the exit stamps in Dire Dawa. Finally, only the Djiboutian immigration police arrives, just as the train was about to leave to meet them at the road border checkpoint, a couple of km ahead. Everyone gathers in the dining car because there is no water or electricity in the immigration building. Then after 20 min the Ethiopians arrive. Everything is set in 30 minutes but the train only leaves at 5:10 pm. Stop at the Ali Sabieh train station 20 min later. We arrived in Djibouti Negab station at 6:20 pm. The station is to be inaugurated next morning by the president.
Train travel in Ethiopia & Djibouti - train times & fares
Anyway ndugu zetu Wa-Ethiopia walikamilisha ujenzi wa reli yao ya stima Oct, 2016, Miezi kumi kabla ya Kenya kumaliza Ujenzi wake wa reli ya Diesel.... Kenya ilipomaliza Ujenzi, reli yake ilianza kuchapa kazi siku moja tubaada ra kuzinduliwa rasmi, reli ya Ethiopia ina hadi leo bado kuna mushkil kiasi, nawaombea hizi shida ziwe ni shida za mwanzo mwanzo tu, yani shiida mbazo zitaisha, miaka mitano baadae wawe walisahau aibu hii ndogo....
Ikumbukwer kwa sasa Ethiopia iko na umeme ambao ni zaidi ya nci za EAC zote ukijumlisha,kwasasa Ethiopia wako na 4,290MW za umeme, kwavile si wananchi wengi wanautumia, umeme huu hua unaumika sana na viwanda, alafu ule unao baki wanauzia nchi jirani kama dgibouti,Sudan... Kenya nayo hununua hadi 400MW kila maka kutoka Ethiopia... Yani kwa ufupi Ethiopia wako na umeme wa kutoshleza mahitaji ya SGR yao hata ziwe mbili
Ethiopia also started selling its power to Kenya last year under the East Africa Community Power Pool agreement even though Kenya said that there wasn’t any electricity business between the two countries.
Despite this claim, data from KNBS shows that Kenya has bought 446MW from Ethiopia in the last nine months. In August last year, Ethiopia said that it was planning to export up to 400 MW to Kenya annually.
Kenya stops importing power, now generates over 2000MW
Shida zinazo kumba Kenya, na kama utavyosoma taarifa ifyatayo, pia Ethiopia ni kwamba umeme uko wa kutosha lakini shida inatokana na insufficient Grid supply ...... SR inahitaji uninturrupted power supply yani iwe umeme haupotei abisa liwe liwalo....
Tushukuru serikali kwa kusikilisa advice ya feasibility study na kununua vyuma vya diesel, na pia kuzingatia mahitaji ya mazingira na kuweka fence kuanzia obasa hadi nairobi, ethiopia hawakuweka fence sasa emekua kero tupu..... Lakini pia kutoka Ethiopia, kenya ina mengine ya kujifunza haswaa ile siku tukiunganisha reli yetu na nchi jirani, mamboya immigration italeta shida kidogo....
TRAIN TRAVEL IN ETHIOPIA
Addis Ababa - Diré Dawa - Djibouti train service...
A brand new Chinese-built standard gauge line formally opened between Addis Ababa in October 2016, replacing the old colonial metre-gauge line which ran until 2010. Passenger services started on the new line in January 2018. If you have any feedback please get in touch!
The times below are approximate times taken from an internal timetable graph, treat with caution. But as the company has singularly failed to put any official times online, they are at the best you'll find on the internet at the time I write this!
* = It runs on odd-numbered or even-numbered dates in each direction, but it is not know which days it runs. Ask at the station.
Addis Abeba to Djibouti via the new line is 728 km. See useful country information: Visas, currency, dialling code...
The stations are new & not yet shown on Google Maps: Map showing Addis Ababa Lebu station & road access. Map showing Djibouti Nagad station. Many taxi drivers don't yet know where it is!
How much does it cost?
- Addis Ababa to Djibouti = 503 birr ($18) in a seat, 1,006 birr ($37) in hard sleeper (regular) or 1,341 birr ($49) in soft sleeper (VIP).
- Addis Ababa to Diré Dawa = 308 birr ($11) in a seat, 616 birr ($22) in hard (regular) sleeper (regular) or 821 birr ($30) in soft (VIP) sleeper.
- Buy tickets at the station. There is currently no online booking.
Photos in this section are courtesy of Clément. If you get any further photos of the train, restaurant car or scenery, please get in touch!
Addis Ababa Lebu station...
Inside Lebu station...
The train to Djibouti about to leave Addis Ababa Lebu station...
Road kill - rather, rail kill - seems to be an issue.
Hard seats... Hard class class regular seats...
Soft sleeper... 4-berth compartments. It's not known what terminology is used in Ethiopia, possibly VIP berths.
Hard sleeper. 6-bunk open compartments. It's not known what terminology is used locally, possibly regular berths.
The daily train on its way from Addis Abeba to Djibouti...
Travellers' reports...
Traveller Clément reports from the first public run in January 2018: "A contact told me the train left at 8am. I arrived at the train station of Furi-Lebu at 7am. The ticket counters are on the right of the station. They were surprised I was going to Djibouti as all the other passengers would stop at Dire Dawa. If you go to Djibouti, make sure you already have a visa even if you are entitled to get a visa at the border, otherwise they'll most probably deny selling you a ticket to Djibouti. Even though it is in the same building, you have to go outside in order to get in the waiting hall. The federal police does a thorough search of your bags when entering the hall. They stop letting you in 5 minutes before departure. The train starts as soon as all passengers are on. Since we were only 20ish passengers, it departed at 7:55. There is a counter for the Ethiopian customs to check border crossing passengers, but it was closed and I was told we'd do the immigration stuff at the border. The Chinese management company told the two governments to install Djiboutian immigration counters in Ethiopian stations and vice versa to speed up the process at the border but the governments haven't yet agreed on the formalities. Hopefully, it should change as they get more international passengers. The train is managed by a Chinese company though the hostess and a few other staff are Ethiopians . The Chinese manager told me we would arrive at 8pm rather than the scheduled 6pm because usually there are power cuts and stops for various reasons.
The train has 1 car with VIP 4-berth compartments, 1 car of 6-berth open compartments with seats and power outlets in the hallway, 1 dining-car selling very basic food (a basic "sandwich", some cookies, chips and water - though it was their inaugural journey) and 8 hard-seats cars with 118 seats. Dining and hard seat cars only have power outlets for the attendants. The train currently stops in Adama and Dire Dawa only as the other stations are not ready and not yet staffed. We stopped twice between Lebu and Adama, including once for 5 minutes because we hit a goat at a road crossing (the management company then sends some of its local staff to pay compensations). We arrived in Adama at 9:15 and stopped for about 40 min for an unknown reason. The train then passes through less populated areas at between 90 and 100 km/h; you're in the very basalt-y plain of the rift valley, surrounded by soon-to-be woken small volcanoes. After riding 2h15 from Adama, the train stopped in the bush not far from Metehara. I saw a goat on the side that couldn't seem to use its back legs. I thought it was giving birth ("cuuuute") until I realized there were more inanimate goats a few meters further. The train had gone full speed through a herd, killing 30. Locals came and there were soon 30ish people around the train. The four federal police guys who are always aboard the train went to discuss with them as usual. However the shepherd didn't want to let the train go until he gets compensated (for 70 goats, since some were pregnant and some cubs need their dead mother...). More federal and local police came, about 20 in total. The train left after 7 (!) hours of negotiations which, according the the Chinese boss in the train, included some calls to the Ethiopian minister of transport and the head of the federal police in Addis, at dusk (I suspect the shepherd let it go because they had to go home for diner, otherwise they would have stayed!). The boss told me "they do it on purpose to get money. They ask an unreasonable price. The other day we killed 12 camels and they asked for a million birr".
We then went straight to Dire Dawa. The train was so late than we stopped in Dire Dawa for the night. It was supposed to leave Dire Dawa for Djibouti at 2:52 pm; we arrived at 9:30pm. The train managers were very sorry and stressed that it is the very beginning of the operations and it will improve with time.(Hope you imprrove very soon) They were pretty efficient in managing the situation, booked a hotel in Dire Dawa and took us there by 4x4 even though I told them I wouldn't mind sleeping in the train. Next day, the train was supposed to leave to Djibouti after midday, as the train from Djibouti was due to arrive at 11:30ish, and there is only one track on most of the journey. I got a phone call at 9:40am saying a car is waiting for us at the hotel to take us to the station. Once at the station (about 20 min from the centre on a soon-to-be-paved road), the federal police didn't want to let me in until the Ethiopian immigration guy checks my passport. Re-thorough bag check, then a guy used the immigration counter to register my departure from Ethiopia. Having lived here for 2 years, I expected a wide range of possible problems (no internet connection, fingerprint machine or camera not working...). However it went pretty smoothly, albeit a bit slow, about 10 min. The train waited for me since I represented 50% of the 2 passengers.
We left at 10:40. After 1h40 of normal ride the train got stuck for 30min in the desert because there was no electricity. Then we were running at 110 km/h according to the GPS. We stopped again because of power failure at 13:15 and power came back 1h later. Apparently they once got stuck for 10h... We stopped at Ayesha station 40 km from the Djibouti border for 30 min to meet the train from Djibouti and leave half the crew to join it. The other train has about 30 Djiboutian passengers. Then another 2-min stop as we killed a young camel. Ouch! No-one was around so we continued. We arrived at the border at 3:35pm. We were waiting for the Ethiopian immigration guys to come from the border for the 2 Ethiopian ladies of the dining car as the other passenger and I already got the exit stamps in Dire Dawa. Finally, only the Djiboutian immigration police arrives, just as the train was about to leave to meet them at the road border checkpoint, a couple of km ahead. Everyone gathers in the dining car because there is no water or electricity in the immigration building. Then after 20 min the Ethiopians arrive. Everything is set in 30 minutes but the train only leaves at 5:10 pm. Stop at the Ali Sabieh train station 20 min later. We arrived in Djibouti Negab station at 6:20 pm. The station is to be inaugurated next morning by the president.
Train travel in Ethiopia & Djibouti - train times & fares
