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Rebuilding the Line

Rebuilding the Line



Photo courtesy of Patrick Horton		 Railway preservationists take great pride in the restoration of a single locomotive or a single piece of rolling stock to look pretty on display.  Some have been abandon for years.  The balleyhoo rebuilding a few miles of track.  Go to any rail museum in the US or Europe....they won't hesitate to tell you about their latest rebuild.
The people of Eritrea have not only restored many locomotives, pieces of rail stock and miles of track to look pretty.  They have restored them to revenue condition. Rightly so, they have even put the rebuilding on stamps and currency.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Horton
The driving force behind rebuilding the line was President Issayas Afeworki.  He had made the decision in 1993.  On behalf of the Construction Commission, Habteleul Gebremedhin, had stated, "rehabilitation of the line was debatable.  An extensive study on the development of transport facilities and formulation of options and priorities needed to be undertaken prior to setting programs of rehabilitation."
Renato Gaudio sent me this article from the 'Sunday Supplement' of an Italian Newspaper.

The article to the right appeared in Il Corriere della sera on July 9, 1998. This specifically was in the weekly supplement Sette.  Renato has been so kind as to provide an English translation.
Currently, rebuilding the line is moving more slowly because some of the best people and other resources have been moved to support the war with Ethiopia.   Ethiopia choosing to augment the existing line from Djibouti to Addis Abbaba may indicate a long war effort.  On the other hand, such expense being vulnerable to a war may indicate the wish of Ethiopia to not be dependent upon Eritrean ports.

 
 

I have divided details of reconstruction into two pages....Right of way and structures....Rolling stock and locomotives.







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