Addis Ababa, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Since its departure, the Addis Ababa Railway has dispatched 680,000 passengers and 9.5 million tons of goods, with an average annual growth rate of 39 percent...... The six-year achievements and future prospects of the Addis Ababa Railway and the turnkey ceremony were held on the 10th at the Rab Railway Station on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. This marks the official start of the Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Company to take the lead in the operation of the Jabouti-Djibouti Railway.
The 752-kilometer-long Addis Ababa Railway is the first transnational electrified railway in Africa, with a total length of 752 kilometers from Addis Ababa in the west to the port of Djibouti, the capital of neighboring Djibouti.
According to statistics from China Civil Engineering Ethiopia Engineering Co., Ltd., since its opening of commercial operation on January 1, 2018, the Jakarta-Djibouti Railway has operated more than 2,500 passenger trains and more than 7,700 freight trains, achieving a total of 11.3 billion Ethiopian birr (about 197 million U.S. dollars) in commercial transportation revenue.
These gains are inseparable from the perseverance of the Chinese team and the efforts of local employees.
Nebiyu Meraku, 34, joined the construction of the Ajibouti-Djibouti railway after graduating from university in 2013. He started as a human resources assistant and is now one of the HR directors of Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway, the owner of the Jakarta-Djibouti Railway, responsible for the management and welfare of more than 3,000 local Ethiopian employees.
"In the beginning, it was full of garbage dumps, and our main job at that time was to clean up the garbage, level the land, and help the local people relocate." Nebiyu pointed to Rab Station, the starting point of the Jajibouti-Djibouti Railway.
Early in the morning, the reporter saw in the square outside the station that many passengers were queuing up to enter the station. Outside the square, local young people are running along the road against the rising sun.
"Now the environment here is beautiful and the infrastructure is better." Nabiyu told reporters.
In 2018, the Jakarta-Djibouti Railway entered commercial operation. According to the contract, the Chinese company will provide the owner with railway operation and maintenance services for six years. Through the systematic training of local employees and the "mentoring" of local employees, the local owners gradually took over the operation of the railway.
Dai Hegen, chairman of China Railway Construction, said that the Chinese team first helped build six theoretical training sites and four centralized practical training sites along the railway line based on local conditions. In addition, the team also cooperated with Southwest Jiaotong University, Beijing Jiaotong University and other institutions to provide on-site training for more than 320 professional and technical personnel; 62 electric locomotive drivers, 77 middle managers and 35 senior managers were sent to China for training.
It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish. Over the past six years, China has trained and certified a total of 2,840 local employees, and fully completed the localization capacity building of various specialties such as operation, maintenance, and security, laying a solid foundation for a smooth handover on time.
Excellent capacity building has created a strong localization team. On January 1, 2024, the Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Company will fully take over the operation of the Jakarta-Djibouti Railway, and the prosperity of the Jakarta-Djibouti Railway, which has been watered by the employees of China, Egypt and Djibouti with their youth and sweat, will bloom.
For Wang Tiantao, a Chinese technician at the Addis Ababa Depot, the past six years have been more than 2,000 days and nights working side by side with local colleagues. Here, he was responsible for the management and coordination of passenger and cargo transportation at 10 stations, including Rab station, and witnessed the growth of Ethiopian colleagues from ignorance of railways to complete takeover of train operations.
"At the beginning of the operation, I was in charge of 40 Chinese personnel in the depot, which has now been reduced to five, and the number of local employees has increased from zero to 450." Wang Tiantao said that after the turnkey ceremony, the Chinese team will mainly carry out key inspections and guidance and supervision, and will completely withdraw within two years.
About an hour and a half south from Rab Station, the train arrives at Adama Station, home of Naybiyu.
"I often share my experience working on the railroad with my family, and they are all very proud of my work." Naibiyu told reporters, "My younger brother also joined the operation of the Jakarta-Djibouti Railway four years ago and is currently working at the Adama station. ”
The railway not only provides employment for many locals, but also strengthens economic exchanges and people-to-people exchanges between Ethiopia and Djibouti, and becomes an "accelerator" for economic growth in various places along the route.
"The Jakarta-Djibouti Railway has strongly promoted trade and bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Djibouti, and this railway connects Ethiopia with the rest of the world, which is of great significance for promoting Ethiopia's economic development." Ethiopian Minister of Transport and Logistics Alemu Sime said at the ceremony.
The Jakarta-Djibouti railway is an early harvest of the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and the "Ten Cooperation Plans" of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. The railway is also known as Ethiopia's "transport lifeline" and plays an important role in ensuring people's livelihood. A large amount of fertilizer, wheat and steel enter Ethiopia through this railway, and coffee, sesame seeds, and clothing produced in Ethiopia go to sea through this channel.
It is understood that 752 kilometers of transportation mileage, road transportation takes 3 to 7 days, after the opening of the Jakarta-Djibouti railway, freight only 20 hours, transportation costs are only two-thirds of the cost of road transportation. In the future, the Chinese team will give full play to its own technical advantages, continue to summarize and refine the current norms and standards of the Jakarta-Djibouti Railway, and gradually help the two countries establish and improve railway industry standards.
"I've been in Ethiopia for 10 years, and I'm used to life here. Although it will be a little sad to leave, we are very relieved to see local employees taking over the operation and maintenance of the Jakarta-Djibouti Railway. Wang Tiantao said.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Editor: Xiao Jinlan