Ethiopia: Addis Ababa Light Rail transit project almost complete, in pre-revenue testing phase

Pre-revenue testing of the Addis Ababa light rail transit was launched on Monday February 2.

The ceremony, which inaugurated the system – the first of its kind in the region, was attended by the country’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, Addis Ababa Mayor, Dirba Kuma and thousands of residents of the city.

On the occasion, the prime minister indicated that because of active public participation with his administration, all mega development projects across the country are going on the right track. He further noted that the pre-revenue testing of the Addis Ababa light rail project could be a testimony to the achievements made.

Hailemariam underlined that active public participation is crucial to all development process and nation building. He also added that the Ethiopian Government has been working to ensure sophisticated and modern transportation infrastructure while also maintaining the goal of building a carbon emission free transport system.

The CEO of the Ethiopian Railway Corporation, Getachew Betiru, revealed that the corporation has been training personnel to operate and manage the new railway transit systems under construction throughout the country.

The Chairman of the board of directors of the same Corporation, Arkebe Ekubay, stated that the pre-revenue testing of the Addis Ababa light railway is the last phase of the project and official service would be launched shortly.

He also pointed out that Ethiopia is striving to build a modern railway network to connect the development corridors of a country, hence speed up socio-economic transformation.

The country’s Transport Minister, Workineh Gebeyehu said that Ethiopia has been striving to bring dynamic change in land, sea and air transportation by spending huge amount of resources in the development of the required infrastructure.

A delighted Mayor Dirba Kuma, noted that the successful completion of Addis Ababa light railway project is a testimony of fruitful journey towards Ethiopian renaissance and the government would continue to invest in infrastructure expansion to fuel socio-economic development of Ethiopia.