China on Thursday started laying tracks of first overseas electric railway from Ethiopia to Djibouti, Yuan Li, General Manager, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, one of the two major constructors announced this in Beijing on Thursday.
He said the four billion dollars project would stretch 740 kilometres linking Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with Djibouti’s capital, Djibouti.
He said it was expected to be completed by the end of 2015 and the train would run at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour, the fastest ever in Ethiopian railway history.
Yuan said the railway, once in operation, would reduce the travelling time to seven or eight hours and also cut transportation costs.
He said the railway would follow Chinese standards as tracks, trains and signal systems are all made in China.
Yuan added that the whole process ranging from design, construction to supervision would be run by Chinese companies.
This is the second transnational railway to be built by Chinese enterprises after the landmark Tanzania-Zambia construction in the 1970s.
NAN
