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The Eritrean Railway is the only
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
system in
Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...
. It was constructed between 1887 and 1932 during the
Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea ( it, Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in 1 ...
colony and connects the port of
Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahla ...
with
Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The c ...
. Originally it also connected to
Bishia Bishia ( ar, نشيا) is a small locality in western Eritrea. Transport It was the original terminus of the Eritrean Railway from Asmara, though the line did briefly extend through to Sudan. However the railway no longer extends here, having ...
. The line was partly damaged by warfare in subsequent decades, but was rebuilt in the 1990s. Vintage equipment is still used on the line.


Main railway line


Characteristics

The railway was built during
Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea ( it, Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in 1 ...
in order to connect
Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahla ...
and Asmara, the main cities of Eritrea. In the 1930s Italian leader
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...
wanted to reach
Kassala Kassala ( ar, كسلا) is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. Built on the banks of the Gash River, it is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. Many of its inhabit ...
in Sudan, but his war to conquer
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 ...
and create the
Italian Empire The Italian colonial empire ( it, Impero coloniale italiano), known as the Italian Empire (''Impero Italiano'') between 1936 and 1943, began in Africa in the 19th century and comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependenci ...
stopped the enlargement to
Agordat Agordat; also Akordat or Ak'ordat) is a city in Gash-Barka, Eritrea. It was the capital of the former Barka province, which was situated between the present-day Gash-Barka and Anseba regions. History Excavations in Agordat uncovered pottery ...
and Bishia. After damage suffered by the railway during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the section between Massawa and Asmara was dismantled partially and was only rebuilt in the 1990s by the Eritrean authorities. The railway is
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
and is being rebuilt after the devastation wreaked upon it by the
war of independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List of ...
. Its newest equipment is over fifty years old, with most of it predating World War II. It is one of the few railway systems still in existence (excluding tourist railways) using equipment like the 1930s Italian-built 'Littorina'
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...
s and 1930s-vintage Mallet steam locomotives.


Route

The railway was fully opened in 1932. It ran from the port of Massawa westwards to Asmara, then extending northwards to Keren, Agordat and Bishia. It was partially built from Bishia to
Tesseney Teseney ( ar, تسني, ti, ተሰነይ), also spelled Tessenei or Tesseney, is a market town in western Eritrea. It lies south-east of Kassala in Sudan, on the Gash River. The city was much fought over in the Eritrean War of Independence during ...
(and projected to reach
Kassala Kassala ( ar, كسلا) is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. Built on the banks of the Gash River, it is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. Many of its inhabit ...
, annexed to Eritrea in 1940 by the Italians) at the beginning of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, but this section was not finished when the Allies captured Eritrea in 1941. Until 1978 even the route Asmara-Keren remained partially active. As of 2009, the section between Massawa and Asmara is open.


950 mm gauge

Eritrea was an Italian colony, and accordingly its railway was built by Italian engineers to Italian standards, using equipment bought from Italy. The
gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...
chosen was the Italian standard narrow gauge measurement of , similar to many common narrow gauge railways under construction in Italy at the same time. With the short building time and the simultaneous flow of some common equipment and materials to the national railway yards, e.g. metallic plate
ties TIES may refer to: * TIES, Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science * TIES, The Interactive Encyclopedia System * TIES, Time Independent Escape Sequence * Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science The ''Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science' ...
(sleepers), it was necessary to acquire these from France to some extent. A previous Italian law from 1879 officially established the track gauges, which specified the use of and gauge track measured from the centre of the rails, or and , respectively, on the inside faces.


Construction

Construction began from the Red Sea port city of Massawa in 1887, heading towards the capital city of Asmara. The "Decauville" railway was the first built, from Massaua to Saati, just 27 km. Progress was slow, thanks to the long climb up the mountains to the high plateau of inland Eritrea, and the substantial civil engineering works required; the line reached Asmara in 1911. It was extended to Keren in 1922, Agat in 1925,
Agordat Agordat; also Akordat or Ak'ordat) is a city in Gash-Barka, Eritrea. It was the capital of the former Barka province, which was situated between the present-day Gash-Barka and Anseba regions. History Excavations in Agordat uncovered pottery ...
in 1928, and finally Bishia in 1932, for a total length of . Bishia (Biscia in Italian) proved to be the end, even though the builders had ambitions of reaching the Sudan Railways line. Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia led to resources being diverted elsewhere, including the upgrading of the line from Massawa to Asmara to handle more traffic. Building the line from Massawa to Asmara was a significant undertaking. Even with the tighter turns and narrower right-of-way allowed by a narrow gauge railway, the line required 65 bridges (including a fourteen-arch viaduct crossing the Obel River) and 39 tunnels, the longest being . Even so, there were still grades of more than 3 %. The highest point on the railway is just east of Asmara at above sea level. The construction of the railway was considered a fine achievement of the first half of the twentieth century.


In operation

In 1935, it carried supplies for the Italian war effort in Ethiopia and the line saw 30 trains daily, while by 1965 the line was carrying nearly half a million passengers a year as well as 200,000 tons of freight. Things went downhill from there. Improvements to the road from Massawa to Asmara, and to the trucks and buses that used it, began to take traffic away from the railway. Until 1941, the railway was controlled by the Italians, but the fortunes of war allowed the British to take control. After 1942, the railway (damaged during the East Africa Campaign and by Italian guerrillas) was abandoned from
Agordat Agordat; also Akordat or Ak'ordat) is a city in Gash-Barka, Eritrea. It was the capital of the former Barka province, which was situated between the present-day Gash-Barka and Anseba regions. History Excavations in Agordat uncovered pottery ...
to Biscia. In 1953, Eritrea was joined to Ethiopia in Federation as the British pulled out, giving Ethiopia a coastline, but starting off 40 years of unrest and eventually war. The first Director General of the railway was Yacob Zanios, a former railway executive from Dire Dawa, who was appointed by HIM Emperor Haile Sellassie to assume management of the railway from the British and organize, rebuild the infrastructure, and integrate the railway into the national transportation grid. Under the four-year leadership of Yacob Zanios, the railway became operational and a very successful enterprise. The 1950s and 1960s were successful years for the railway, but in the 1970s the railway fell more and more out of use as the mismanagement of the railway and political unrest intensified, and in 1975 the railway was destroyed by the ruling
Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " ...
regime in Ethiopia. Much of the infrastructure was destroyed during the following years of war, and both sides used materials salvaged from the railway for fortification and other purposes.


Rebuilding

Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, and in 1994 the Eritrean president declared that rebuilding the railway was a priority for the new nation. During the war years a spirit of self-reliance had been built up, and the Eritreans refused foreign loans and expensive rework. Instead, the Eritreans decided, they would rebuild what they had left with their own efforts. Rebuilding the line started, some work going into rebuilding the workshops and station in Asmara while others set to reconstructing the Massawa end. Renovation of the main line began from Massawa westbound, recovering rails and steel ties. At the same time, restoration began on the remaining locomotives and rolling stock remaining after the conflict. Eleven steam locomotives survived, and at least six have been rebuilt to working order. In addition, several 1930s vintage Fiat 'Littorina' railcars survive and have been made operational, as well as two 1957
Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krupp ...
-built Bo-Bo diesels (the line's newest locomotives) and one of three surviving Drewry shunters, brought to the railway by the British during the war years. Finally, several road trucks have been converted to run on rail wheels. Much freight stock and a number of passenger cars also survive. The line has been restored from Massawa to Asmara, but no scheduled services traverse the whole length of the line. Charter trains for tourists now do, and regular train services exist in certain areas. While the surviving equipment is sufficient for such a limited service, the purchase or building of more is necessary to provide a serious form of transportation over the length of the line. In 2007, The Eritrean Railroad Authority requested funding to continue the Italian-era plan to extend the route to
Tesseney Teseney ( ar, تسني, ti, ተሰነይ), also spelled Tessenei or Tesseney, is a market town in western Eritrea. It lies south-east of Kassala in Sudan, on the Gash River. The city was much fought over in the Eritrean War of Independence during ...
and provide an opportunity for Sudan to efficiently use the Port of Massawa. Mining companies in Eritrea have also inquired about use of the railway and its improvement. The surviving freight cars include a number of larger boxcars suitable for a limited freight service.


Equipment


Steam locomotives

Three classes of steam locomotive still exist; one design of 0-4-0 shunter and two designs of 0-4-4-0 Mallet for line service.


=202 Series

= These small 0-4-0
tank engine A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomo ...
s were and are the standard shunter locomotives of the system, built between 1927 and 1937 by the firm of
Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
. They have short side tanks, a rear coal bunker, and a unified, oval dome containing the steam dome inside a larger sand dome. This arrangement, popular worldwide in nations that favored the sand dome, helped both to insulate the steam dome and to keep the sand dry with the warmth. Large, prominent builder's plates adorn the domes. They utilise Walschaerts valve gear with
piston valves Piston valves are one form of valve used to control the flow of steam within a steam engine or locomotive. They control the admission of steam into the cylinders and its subsequent exhausting, enabling a locomotive to move under its own power. ...
and
superheating In thermodynamics, superheating (sometimes referred to as boiling retardation, or boiling delay) is the phenomenon in which a liquid is heated to a temperature higher than its boiling point, without boiling. This is a so-called '' metastable sta ...
, and are painted in the traditional European style of red below the running board, including frames and wheels, and black above, including boiler, cab, tanks etc. The purpose of the red paint is to make cracks and breakages in the locomotive's important running gear more obvious. Six of these engines survive, of which two were in running order and four in storage awaiting restoration.


=440 Series

= One of these early Mallet locomotives, which is a true Mallet and thus a compound, still exists in storage at the Asmara workshops. It was a 1915 product of
Ansaldo Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. is an Italian power engineering company. It is based in Genoa, Italy. The absorbed parent company, Gio. Ansaldo & C., started in 1853. It was taken over by Leonardo S.p.A. In 2011, Leonardo S.p.A. sold 45% stake in A ...
in Genova.


=442 Series

= These later, and much larger, compound Mallet locomotives were built by Ansaldo in Genova in 1938 to largely replace the earlier types, both the 440 Series and the unsuccessful 441 Series. The latter were simple locomotives (i.e., non-compound) and found liable to run out of steam on the heavy grades of the line. Four of them are still in existence of which three are in running order. These are the prime main-line steam locomotives of the railway, and are in high demand for tourist services. Two of them, double headed, are required to scale the steepest grades with a train of any length. Like the other locomotives they are tank engines with large side tanks and a rear coal bunker, under cover of the cab roof in this design.


Diesel locomotives

The railway possesses five diesel locomotives. They are in the process of being returned to working order.


=Krupp Bo-Bo roadswitchers

= The railway purchased two
Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krupp ...
-built Bo-Bo 25D
roadswitcher A road switcher is a type of railroad locomotive designed to both haul railcars in mainline service and shunt them in railroad yards. Both type and term are North American in origin, although similar types have been used elsewhere. A road s ...
s of typical German offset-cab design in 1957, the newest motive power owned by the system and the only locomotives purchased after World War II. They are both still in working order. When the line's replacement is complete, it is intended to use them for hauling freight. The roadswitchers are painted in a creamy white with brown frames and trucks.


=Drewry shunters

= Three
Drewry Car Co. The Drewry Car Co was a railway locomotive and railcar manufacturer and sales organisation from 1906 to 1984. At the start and the end of its life it built its own products, for the rest of the time it sold vehicles manufactured by sub-contract ...
built diesel
shunter A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...
s are owned by the railway, and were brought to Eritrea by the British after their takeover in 1941. They were previously in service in the
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
and were of a slightly wider gauge () there; they were regauged to the railway's gauge by turning them from an outside framed to an inside framed layout. Two are 0-6-0s and one is an 0-4-0; one of each is working while the third is under repair. They are painted in the same scheme as the Krupp units but lacking their bonnet sides and the engines are exposed.


Railcars

Three
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...
-built 'Littorina' railcars survived the civil war and two are in working order. They are
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
in style, with large Fiat radiators on the front. The bodies are painted in creamy white with grey underneath and roofs with red 'bumpers' on the ends and a red stripe separating the body color from the grey below. They are intended for tourist service; new vehicles will be built or bought for regular passenger service. In addition, one 4-wheel railcar built by
Brown Boveri Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies. It was founded in Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 1970 ...
of Switzerland exists out of service in the Asmara shops. It was apparently being used as a mobile generator car before the civil war. It was originally built for Italian Somaliland Railway. For maintenance an improvised maintenance car is used, a four-wheeler built from a motor-cycle.


Rail trucks

A number of Russian-built Orion light trucks have been converted to run on rail wheels. At present, they are being used in the railway's reconstruction.


Passenger cars

A number of
passenger cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
, all mounted on two four-wheel trucks, survive. They are fitted with wooden seats and have a platform at each end, one of which is for the
brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, ...
– there are no continuous train brakes on the railway, and braking is either done with the locomotive's brakes or by manually applying the brakes on each car. They are now painted in an attractive livery of white with pale blue in a stripe above the windows and at the bottom of the bodywork.


Freight cars

Abandoned
goods wagon Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon type ...
s sit on sidings near Asmara, and are being restored. Priority is being given to the 8-wheel (2 x 4-wheel truck) boxcars and flatcars, but a large number of 4-wheel (two wheelsets) cars still exist.


Couplings and brakes

Locos and wagons are equipped with a single centre buffer with a hook and screw chain underneath. There are no continuous brakes; instead a brakeman travels on each coach to apply braking when required. However, a picture of a tank car shows hoses for some kind of continuous brake.


Loading gauge

The
structure gauge A structure gauge, also called the minimum clearance outline, is a diagram or physical structure that sets limits to the extent that bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure can encroach on rail vehicles. It specifies the height and width of pl ...
of the Eritrean Railway is small. Therefore, two test runs, one in 2006 another one in spring 2010 took place when ISO containers were carried on traditional flat wagons through all the tunnels along the line. In December 2010 two ISO Containers of
Maersk Line Maersk Line or Maersk SeaLand is a Danish international container shipping company and the largest operating subsidiary of the Maersk Group, a Danish business conglomerate. Founded in 1928, it is the world's largest container shipping company by ...
with equipment donated by the Danish State Railway for the rail workshops in Asmara travelled all the line with no problems. It is not clear if the containers were high or high.


Complementary railway lines

The Eritrean Railway was complemented by the Asmara-Massawa Cableway, and by a small transport railway between Mersa Fatma and Colulli, nearly south of Massawa.


Asmara-Massawa Cableway

The Asmara-Massawa Cableway was built by
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in the 1930s, and connected the port of
Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahla ...
with the city of
Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The c ...
. The cableway was the longest of its kind in the world at the time of its inauguration. It had 13 stations with diesel engines, with 1620 little transport wagons. The
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
later
dismantled Dismantled (born Gary Zon) is an electronic music artist from the United States. History Dismantled is the product of an experiment that began in late 2000 by Gary Zon, who was attempting to create something similar to Front Line Assembly's s ...
it during their eleven-year occupation, after defeating Italy in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.


Mersa Fatma–Colulli Railway

A long gauge
potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.
transport railway located between
Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahla ...
and
Assab Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea. Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar, Tigrinya, and Arabic. Assab is known for its large market, beache ...
. A gauge line was built in 1905 by the Italians inside the port of Mersa Fatma and from it into the hinterland until Colluli near the current Ethiopian border in the
Danakil depression The Danakil Depression is the northern part of the Afar Triangle or Afar Depression in Ethiopia, a geological depression that has resulted from the divergence of three tectonic plates in the Horn of Africa. Geology The Danakil Depression lie ...
with the terminus roughly below
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...
.
Potash Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.
production is said to have reached about after this railway was constructed. Production was stopped some years after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
owing to large-scale supplies mainly from
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. Unsuccessful attempts to reopen large scale production were made in the period 1920–1941 by the Italian government. Between the years 1925–1929 an Italian company mined of
sylvite Sylvite, or sylvine, is potassium chloride (KCl) in natural mineral form. It forms crystals in the isometric system very similar to normal rock salt, halite ( NaCl). The two are, in fact, isomorphous. Sylvite is colorless to white with shades o ...
, averaging 70% KCl, which was transported by rail to Mersa Fatma. The company was the main source of potash in Eritrea and it had to cease most operations because of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
of 1929.Neil Robinson. ''World Rail Atlas and Historical Summary. North, East and Central Africa''. London, 2009 (p.35-39).


See also

* Transport in Eritrea *
Railway stations in Eritrea This article is a list of the railway stations in Eritrea. The Eritrean Railway originally ran from Massawa, a port on the Red Sea, via the capital Asmara to Agordat. The line can be divided into three sections (Massawa-Asmara; Asmara-Keren; Keren ...
* Asmara-Massawa Cableway


References


Notes


Further reading

* * *


External links


Site on the Eritrean Railway by Ralph Reinhold

Ferrovia eritrea
Eritrean Railway

''
Railway Gazette International ''Railway Gazette International'' is a monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport ...
'' June 2006
Eritrean Railways at War

Italian colonial railways in Eritrea (in Italian)

Recent photos of the Eritrean Railway
{{portalbar, Railways, Trains, Eritrea Railway companies of Eritrea Italian Eritrea 950 mm gauge railways in Eritrea