The Addis Ababa Light Rail ( Amharic: የአዲስ አበባ ቀላል ባቡር; Ye’Adīsi Abeba k’elali Baburi) is a light rail system in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. It is the first light rail and

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

in eastern and sub-saharan Africa. A line running from the city centre to industrial areas in the south of the city was opened on 20 September 2015 and inaugurated by Prime Minister

Hailemariam Desalegn Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe ( amh, ኃይለማሪያም ደሳለኝ ቦሼ; born 19 July 1965) is an Ethiopian politician who served as prime minister of Ethiopia from 2012 to 2018. He also previously served as deputy prime minister and Minister ...

. Service began on 9 November 2015 for the second line (west-east). The total length of both lines is , with 39 stations. Trains are expected to be able to reach maximum speeds of . The railway was contracted by China Railway Group Limited. The Ethiopian Railways Corporation began construction of the double track electrified light rail transit project in December 2011 after securing funds from the

Export-Import Bank of China The Export–Import Bank of China (Chexim - China Exim Bank) () is one of two institutional banks in China chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, economy, and foreign aid to other developing countries, and pro ...

. Trial operations were begun on 1 February 2015, with several months of testing following that. It is operated by the

Shenzhen Metro The Shenzhen Metro () is the rapid transit system for the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, China. Extensions opened on 28 November 2022 put the network at of trackage, operating on 15 lines with 345 stations. Shenzhen Metro is the 6th ...

Group.

Overview

Addis Ababa Light Rail vehicle, March 2015

Of the two line rail lines, the east-west line extends , stretching from Ayat Village to Torhailoch, and passing through Megenagna, Meskel Square, Legehar and

Mexico Square Mexico Square is a traffic circle A roundabout is a type of circular intersection (road), intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to t ...

. The north-south line, which is in length, passes through

Menelik II , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Menelik II ( gez, ዳግማዊ ምኒልክ ; horse name Abba Dagnew ( Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 ...

Square,

Merkato Merkato Amharic: መርካቶ; Italian: "market") is a large open-air marketplace in the Addis Ketema, district of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the name refers to the neighborhood in which it is located. Overview Mercato is the largest open-air mar ...

Lideta Lideta (Amharic: ልደታ ክፍለ ከተማ) is a district of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As of 2011 its population was of 214,769.Meskel Square Meskel Square ( am, መስቀል አደባባይ, mesik’el ādebabay, Cross Square) is a public square in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is often a site for public gatherings or for demonstrations and festivals, notably, the Meskel F ...

, Gotera and Kaliti. However, two lines have a common track of about 2.7 km. The common track is the elevated section which runs east to west across the southern edge of the CBD from Meskel Square to Mexico Square, and onwards to Lideta. Trains on the north south line are blue and white, whilst on the east west line they are green and white. The Fares cost 2-6

Ethiopian birr The birr ( am, ብር) is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. It is subdivided into 100 ''santim''. In 1931, Emperor Haile Selassie I formally requested that the international community use the name ''Ethiopia'' (as it had already been known inte ...

. Tickets are bought at orange coloured kiosks next to each station. The final cost to build the railway was US$475m, with construction taking three years. The Addis Ababa Light Rail was originally to have a total of 41 stations on its two lines, and each train was planned have a capacity to carry 286 passengers. This will enable the light rail transit to provide a transportation service to 15,000

passengers per hour per direction Passengers per hour per direction (p/h/d), passengers per hour in peak direction (pphpd) or corridor capacity is a measure of the route capacity of a rapid transit or public transport system. Definition The corridor capacity in the passenger t ...

(PPHPD) and 60,000 in all four directions. The railway lines have their own dedicated power grid. According to CREC the system carried on average 113,500 daily passengers in January 2016 with 153,000 passengers as highest passenger load during a single day. Service frequency was 10 minutes during peak hours on both lines and 20 minutes during off-peak hours. On average there were 94 train rotations on the Blue line (3,177.2 vehicle-kilometres) and 93 rotations on the Green line (3,236.4 vehicle-kilometres).

Future expansion

There are future plans for extensions in all four directions. According to Getachew Betru, CEO of

Ethiopian Railway Corporation Ethiopian Railway, commonly known as ER, full name Ethiopian Railway Corporation, is the national railway operator of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, under the regulation of the Ministry of Transport. ERC operates passenger and freight ...

, the Ethiopian government indicated that any new line built should be completely grade-separated. Apart from extending the existing lines, two new lines are under consideration by the Ethiopian government. The first one will start at St. George's Cathedral, pass along

to the

African Union Headquarters The African Union Conference Center and Office Complex (AUCC) is a building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the headquarters of the African Union and plays host to the biannual AU summits. It also serves as a conference center for African and di ...

and will terminate at Lebu, connecting to the new national rail network. The second line will start at Megenagna Roundabout and passes via Bole Airport, Wello Sefer area, Saris market area and Jommo area and terminates at Lebu.

Rolling stock

Addis Ababa Light Rail operates currently a fleet of 41 three-section 70%

low-floor tram A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stairsteps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspac ...

s manufactured by CNR Changchun (and based on the design for Shenyang Modern Tram).

Lines

Blue Line

* Open 20 September 2015. * The Blue Line runs south from Menelik Square to Kaliti with 22 stops (including the common section). There are three planned stops.

Common section

* Open 20 September 2015. * The common section runs from

St. Lideta ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

Meskel Square Meskel Square ( am, መስቀል አደባባይ, mesik’el ādebabay, Cross Square) is a public square in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is often a site for public gatherings or for demonstrations and festivals, notably, the Meskel F ...

, with 5 stops.

Green Line

* Open 9 November 2015. * The Green Line runs east from Ayat to

Tor Hailoch Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor River, Western New Guinea, Indonesia Sci ...

, with 23 stops (including the common section).''Addis Ababa opens 2nd LRT line''
/ref> There are five planned stops.

References

External links

Project presentation

Addis Train (Android App)

Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit Map
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