Weldiya–Mekelle Railway Explained

Type:Heavy rail
System:Ethiopian Railway Network
Status:Under construction
Locale:Ethiopia
Start:Weldiya
End:Mekelle
Stations:5 (passengers)
Open:not yet operational
Event1label:Inauguration
Event1: (Ethiopia)
(Djibouti)
Event2label:Full testing
Event2: -->
Owner:Ethiopian Railway Corporation
Linelength Km:216
Tracks:single track
Load Gauge:5300mm
Electrification:Overhead line 25 kV AC / 50 Hz
Signalling:semi-automatic block & ETCS-2
Speed:120km/h (passenger);
NaNkm/h (freight)
Elevation M:2393
Maxincline:2.55 %
Map State:show

The Weldiya–Mekelle Railway is a standard gauge railway under construction, that will serve as a northward extension of the new Ethiopian National Railway Network and connects Mekelle to Addis Ababa and Djibouti via the Awash-Weldiya railway.

Route and description

The 216 km long single-track railway is the northern section of one line of 608 km in all, beginning in Awash station of the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway. The station for Weldiya will be one kilometer east of Hara Gebeya, a town 17 km east of Weldiya, with only a third of the city's plpulation. Only three railway stations are major ones, one at Meisha, one at Kobo and one at Mekelle. For the first 40 km after Weldiya, the railway runs through rugged terrain at the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian Highland at an elevation between 1400 and 1830 meters. After 50 km, behind Kobo, the railway enters, for the next ~70 km, a flat sedimentary basin with almost no hills and no prominent landscape features. The elevation difference is only 190 meters. The Alamata and Mehoni railway stations are here, serving a few towns.

After 115 km, a hilly and deserted landscape appears that leads to Meisha station in the Megale woreda. Megale is a woreda of Afar region, few persons are living here. Nevertheless, Meisha railway station is possibly the most interesting along the route, as the station (which is almost at the lowest point of the entire railway, at 1,235 meters) provides relatively easy access to the Danakil depression, one of the hottest places on earth with several well-known volcanoes like Erta Ale and other tourist destinations. Meisha station also offers access to Abala (or Shiket), one of the Afar capital towns. Behind Meisha, the railway is running across sandy alluvial fans for the next 18 km before it makes a turn to the northwest and an elevation jump of 920 meters, from 1360 m to 2280 m elevation in just 40 km. The railway has an almost constant slope of 2.5% here - over 35 km - with many tunnels (up to 3,662 meters long) and bridges - and also with the passing loop station of Adi Gudem in the middle. After 202 km, the railway reaches the flat Ethiopian highland and reaches its terminus at Mekelle Airport after 216 km, east of Mekelle. Shortly before, a branch line will connect a dry port near Mekelle city with the railway line.

Railway characteristics

The railway was based in many aspects on the railway characteristics pre-defined by the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway to keep the railways interoperable. However, a few things (like the maximum slope) were adapted to the special conditions in the mountainous area.

The single-track railway line is equipped with five railway stations and one passing loop station at Adi Gudem. Each railway station can also serve as passing loop station with three lines with the exception of the passing loop station at Adi Gudem, which has only two lines. Each railway station comes without track gradient (level) except again the Adi Gudem passing loop station, which has a track gradient of 0.6% (1 in 167).

History

After the new National Railway Network of Ethiopia was considered to be constructed from 2010 on, the railway was awarded to constructors in 2012. The construction did start in February 2015.[2] The construction starts behind the Weldiya train station but the station itself is not part of the construction, this will be done by the teams constructing the Awash–Weldiya Railway.

The 216 km Weldiya–Mekelle Railway (with a total of 241 km of rails) did not receive any known loan from foreign institutions. Given the total construction budget of US $1.5b, expected costs were US $6.2m per km of rails. The China Communications Construction Company is the prime contractor for the railway.[3]

There were debt issues that temporarily stopped the construction works in summer 2017.[4] [5] The construction progress was at 46% completion at that time.[6] In July 2017, the construction works continued.[7]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WALDIA/HARA GEBEYA – MEKELE RAILWAY PROJECT BASIC DESIGN / ROUTE. China Communications Construction Company Ltd.. 15 January 2018.
  2. Web site: Work starts on delayed Ethiopian project. 27 February 2015. International Rail Journal . Shem . Oirere . 14 March 2018 .
  3. News: Foundation stone laid for northern Ethiopia line. Railway Gazette. 25 February 2015. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn laid a ceremonial foundation stone for the Mek'ele – Weldiya/Hara Gebeya railway project on February 18. The 220 km electrified mixed-traffic route is being built by China Communications Construction Co under a US$1·5bn contract..
  4. Web site: Running out of Steam. 28 January 2017. threreporterethiopia.com.
  5. Web site: Ethiopia Railway Assessment. 24 February 2017. World Food Programme.
  6. Web site: Ethiopia: Mekelle-Woldya railway project at a Standstill. 13 May 2017. hornaffairs.com.
  7. News: የወልዲያ/ ሃራ ገበያ- መቀሌ የባቡር ፕሮጀክት ግንባታ 46 በመቶ መድረሱ ተገለጸ፡፡. Amharic. 14 July 2017. Ethiopian Railway Corporation.