Addis Light Rail Project is now 50% complete

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (WIC)– The Ethiopian Railway Corporation announced that Addis Ababa Light Rail Project is 50 per cent complete.

Briefing journalists about the current status of the project yesterday, Corporation Public Relations and Communication Directorate Director Abebe Meherete said that the construction of bridges, laying of grades and sideways has been undertaken in an accelerated manner in four directions of the city.

Presently, over six-km grades has been laid. On the other hand, other infrastructural development–telephone and electric lines as well as water pipelines are being laid side by side with the railway project.

In some project sites, the contractor, China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) has been working day and night to complete the task according to schedule, he said.

“Unless the project faces unforeseen challenges beyond the capacity of the corporation, the ongoing construction will not stop even for a minute and the contractor has been making utmost effort to finalize the project ahead of the schedule.”

Currently, the difficult part of the civil work is nearing completion. In some areas, 17- 22m depth excavation task has been taking place to erect bridges. Side by side, the corporation has been working with various stakeholders to prepare sideways both for pedestrians and vehicles, Abebe said.

To date, the project faces no financial and technical constraint. It is being undertaken at a cost of 475 million USD of which, 15 per cent of the cost is covered by the government.

The country is constructing nearly 2,400-kms of national electric railway and 34-kms of light rail in Addis as part of Growth and Transformation Plan ending in 2015. (EH)