Chemin de Fer

The steel track, or chemin de fer, is one of the oldest modes of surface transport ever introduced in Africa, in general, and, in Ethiopia, in particular, the centenary of which we are about to celebrate in less than two years time. Every time I hear about railway transport service, it touches one of the subjects closest to my heart simply because my first experience takes me back six decades.

Last week, I was watching a broadcast of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s speech on President Mulatu Teshome’s (PhD) opening speech presented for endorsement. Girma Seifu, the only representative of the opposition camp, asked about the delay in the construction process of the cross-country railway project expressing his doubt that the project will be completed according to the plans. The premier replied, with assertion, that the Addis-Djibouti track of 800kms shall be ready for service by next year.

I liked the ambitious commitment by the premier expressed with such an emphatic expression that might be taken as foregone complacency. Yet, he did not tell us how many kilometres of the rail track have been completed so far.

If Ethiopia could finish 800kms of railway line over its rugged terrain within such a short period of time, then, history will be made. Although we are living in times of technological advancements, it may not be farfetched to hope that the 800kms project could be completed before the year 2015 ends. But we will have to wait and see.

I was a teenager when I first had a travel to Dire Dawa by train. That was also the first experience I had of a line up for service.

There were two tellers, one for the first and another for second class, which used to cost 30 Br and 20 Br, respectively. Civil service employees had a privilege of paying only half the price. All they have to do was show a letter of identity signed and sealed by an authorized person.

The third class used to cost only 10 Br. A certain grey haired gentleman, whom I later learnt to be the father of my colleague, was the teller. A small card of about one inch and half square served as ticket.

Once one gets the card, he was able to pass to the platform. By the way, the railway station, also known as “La Gare” pronounced (le ge har in Amharic) had the same architectural design like stations elsewhere in Europe. Once inside the platform, it is up to the passengers and their companions to load their personal effects on the train.

The third class wagon had rows of perforated steel benches and overhead shelves. The passengers had to be packed and crowded as much as wagons could accommodate them.

Whenever there is shortage of space, additional wagons could be linked. There was no problem. Every luggage and passenger was loaded together without any distinction. Children could be hidden under benches to travel freely.

The locomotive was pulled by a steam engine using coal stone as an input. The siren had a peculiar sound that has become food for thought for many singers, including Kassa Tessema and Seleshi Demissie, aka Gash Abera Molla. The unforgettable batch of passengers includes members of the Kagnew Battalion who were taken to Djibouti Port for sailing to Korea to fulfil the United Nations Security Council Mission.

There were little towns that cropped up because of the railway line and other towns which had already existed but linked by the system. Among these little towns, I remember Dukem for its “Mulmul” – a home -baked local loaf of bread – and Mojo for its hot coffee.

There was one sturdy vendor who mounted the train at Mojo to vend coffee carrying a big blue kettle filled with coffee. He would shout “Buna” only once. Business goes on, thereafter, just like that until the kettle is presented.

Awash station is midway where trains coming from Dire Dawa or Djibouti and those going to these places from Addis Abeba wait for one another and pass by. Awash is also the station where passengers relax and eat dinner, if it may be called. It is also a spot that attracts smugglers or people who make attempts to trade the goods they smuggle by contraband.

As day breaks, the train would have reached the little town known as Yerer Gota where vendors carry fruits like mango, papaya, grape fruits, banners, oranges as well as ground nuts. By about 8 o’clock local time, it would have arrived at Dire Dawa which is also the product of the railway line.

Awash is not only mid-way between Addis Abeba and Dire Dawa where chef de trains change places. Before independence, the joint venture was known as Franco-Ethiopian Railway Company. The railway line had very important social impacts too. It brought people from Djibouti, Afar and the highlanders together.

Around the railway station, settlements for the employees of the Company were established. Football clubs, such as the Babur and the Gumruk, were among the oldest clubs in the country. Dire Dawa was also a summer resort area for the French contingents who were stationed in the Djibouti Port.

The railway project was made possible as one of the modernisation undertakings of Emperor Menelik II. The 750km long railway line was giving the country a very vital service in enabling it to export her agricultural products and livestock for decades. It was also the main gateway to the country for importing goods and heavy duty freight.

A preliminary technical and economical cost and benefit study was made during the Dergue regime to upscale the narrow and obsolete gauge width and load bearing capacity to the international standard, which was 1.1m and 30tns per linear meter, if I remember correctly. It was also studied to link the line to the Assab Port at an estimated cost of five billion Birr at an exchange rate of 2.07 Br for a dollar. But things changed and the whole project was not to be.

Nonetheless, the steam engine had been changed to diesel and some of the wagons were updated. The line had been vulnerable to terrorist acts several times.

Now I do not hear much about the functioning of the line. There cannot be any doubt about the economic feasibility of the Addis-Djibouti line as it has proven itself for nearly one hundred years. I have, however, my doubts about the adequacy traffic that may satisfy the international traffic standard to justify the new planned project, at least in the short run.

I hope the experts in the field would read my queries and convince us with their empirical findings. We are just able to secure loans does not necessarily mean we have to invest on any unjustified projects.

 


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