↑ This ticket above
Does it look a little familiar, it looks like the "English version" of the old-fashioned ticket
A few years ago, with the "popularity" of this ticket photo, the "Made in China" railway built by Chinese enterprises using a full set of Chinese standards and Chinese equipment - Yaji Railway
Walking into people's field of vision, people found that this railway is full of our Chinese shadow!
A few days ago, this article was owned by China Civil Engineering Group
The railway jointly built and operated by China Railway Second Bureau under China Railway ushered in the fifth anniversary of its operation
Over the past five years, the Yaji Railway has made outstanding achievements in operation, maintenance and capacity building, becoming a model of China-Africa cooperation and a microcosm of the "Belt and Road" initiative
A full set of "Chinese standards" exported to Africa
Yaji Railway is China's first overseas transnational electrified railway project integrating investment and financing, design, construction, main equipment and materials, supervision, locomotive and operation, and the whole process of "Chineseization" all using Chinese standards
Due to historical reasons, African countries generally use railway gauge standards of different Western countries, unable to form a unified railway network, before the official planning of the Yadji railway project, the Ethiopian government repeatedly communicated with Chinese companies, they found that China's railway technical standards are not lower than Western standards, and more suitable for the country's national conditions, the Ethiopian government agreed to the construction of Yadjia railway with reference to China's railway technical standards, and also decided to use China's current railway quality standards to accept the project
On October 5, 2016, the Yaji Railway, built with a full set of Chinese standards and Chinese equipment, was officially opened to traffic, and a large number of Ethiopian and Djibouti technical managers received systematic training in Chinese railway technology, laying the foundation for the independent development of railway undertakings in the two countries
A moving Yaji railway train
Not only that, the 752-kilometer-long Yadji Railway is also the continent's first transnational electrified railway and the longest distance electrified railway, spanning the two African countries, from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, in the west, to the port of Djibouti in the east, because it is another transnational railway built by China in Africa after the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, and is also known as the "Tanzania-Zambia Railway in the New Era"
Ethiopia is located in northeast Africa, the headquarters of the African Union, and the train on the Yaji Railway departs from Addis Ababa every day, running at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour, and after more than six hours, it can reach the port of neighboring Djibouti, turning Ethiopia, a "land-locked country", into a "land-linked country", which has greatly promoted the connectivity and economic development of the Horn of Africa region
According to the operator of the Ethiopian Import and Export Company, road transportation will pass through many checkpoints, often causing delays in goods. It takes five or six days to walk [to the port of Djibouti], but it only takes a day and a half by rail. And road transport costs more, while the Yadji railway costs half the cost of roads.
One railway leads to an economic belt
In the context of Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Ethiopia became a landlocked country that had long relied on trucks to transport import and export goods through the port of Djibouti, and the importance of the Yadji Railway, which connects the two, is self-evident
On January 1, 2018, the Yaji Railway officially launched commercial operation, thus opening up the "1+N" Yaji model
Passengers who boarded the bus took a photo to commemorate the occasion
In terms of passenger transport, Yaji Railway has opened intercity trains, international trains, Xifa Chao trains and convenience trains, and freight transportation has successively launched wheat, fertilizer, cement and other bagged moisture-afraid cargo transportation on the basis of the original container transportation, opened up cold chain transportation, car transportation, and at the same time is planning large-scale cargo transportation and coal transportation according to market demand
In May 2021, the trackless station of the Oriental Industrial Park of Yaji Railway was successfully opened, with the help of trackless station railway, the "last mile" of short-term transportation services was deeply integrated with the industrial park
The Yaji railway train passes through the industrial park along the line
According to the relevant person in charge of China Civil Engineering Group, since the opening of commercial operation in 2018, the Yaji Railway has operated 1,802 passenger trains, nearly 530,000 passengers, 6,179 freight trains, and about 7.43 million tons of cargo, with a total operating income of about 980 million yuan, and the transportation revenue of the Yaji Railway in 2022 has achieved a historic breakthrough and reached breakeven
Teach people to export advanced technology in fisheries
As joint contractors and operators, China Civil Engineering Group and China Railway Second Bureau have always adhered to the original intention, and accelerated the training and technology transfer cooperation of local railway operation and maintenance talents with the selfless spirit of "teaching people to fish is better than teaching people to fish", and taught China's advanced railway operation and maintenance skills to local partners
From the construction to the operation of the Yaji Railway, it has achieved 55,000 jobs for Ethiopia and Djibouti, trained more than 3,000 professional and technical personnel in the railway field, so far, the Yaji Railway has trained 107 local train drivers in three batches, including Gilma, the first female train driver of the Yaji Railway
Degenee Irgu, who is currently a train driver of the Yaji Railway, has been with China Civil Engineering Ethiopia for 5 years, he said, the company attaches great importance to the training of local employees, he once went to Zhengzhou, China for 8 months of training, learned important train operation skills and knowledge, and now the trained employees including himself can complete the relevant operations independently: "The completion of the Yaji Railway has created a lot of jobs for Ethiopia and Djibouti, and for ordinary people in both countries, this railway is very important, because it is the lifeline of our family." Degenee Irgu said
In order to avoid the problem of disconnection between construction and operation after the operation and management of the Yaji Railway was handed over to the local government, China Civil Engineering Group proposed to the Ethiopian and Djibouti governments the idea of participating in operation for five years and cultivating local operation and management talents shortly after the construction of the Yaji Railway began, which was supported by the two governments
At the same time, China Civil Engineering Group also organized the "Public Welfare Tour along the Yaji Railway", staff visited villages, learned about the difficulties of the people, donated money and materials to local schools and communities, and organized free medical activities, etc., to bring well-being to the local people, inject new vitality into China-Africa friendship, and write a new chapter of friendship between the Chinese and African peoples in the new era
In the five years since the opening of the Yaji Railway, the employees of China, Egypt and Kyrgyzstan have bravely forged ahead, watering the prosperity and blooming flower of the Yaji Railway with their youth and sweat
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the "Belt and Road" initiative, and looks forward to central enterprises showing new achievements and making new achievements in the construction of the "Belt and Road"!
———— / END / ———— Responsible Editor丨Zhao Shutong, Li HongyingExecutive Editor丨Liu Haicao, Zhang Haoran