From January 2018, Djibouti City and Addis Abeba are connected
by the new electrified railway built and operated by Chinese companies.
From Djibouti
to Dire Dawa
Djibouti
station is not in the city centre, but in Nagad, near the international
airport. However, tickets can be purchased in the city centre, in a building
which is located in Salines Ouest, about 10 minutes by walking from the central
27 Juin Square. Salines Ouest is the road leading southwestwards from the
traffic light at the intersection between Sheikh Osman and Roosevelt avenues.
Once reached the French Culture Institute, keep walking for some 50 meters,
until the Al Rayan cafe'. Cross the road and enter in the courtyard
of the Maison Medical building. The ticket office is on the first floor.
Opening hours: 7-12 & 14-17 on odd-numbered dates; 8-12 & 14-17 on even-numbered
dates. Tickets must be bought at least 17 hours before the train departure, but
they are not sold more than 2 days in advance. The office issues white coupons
that must be exchanged for the proper tickets at the station ticket office.
The train station can be reached by taxi,
it takes about 15 minutes and the fare is 3500 FDJ. Passengers
are required to be at the ticket office at 7 am, in order to exchange the white
coupons, then go through security checks and immigration control. Policemen are
strict about taking pictures, which must be taken of the building only and not
of the policemen themselves.
The train leaves on time, at 8 am, and by
8.50 it reaches Ali Sabieh, the last Djiboutian city before the border. Luggage
and passport controls by the Ethiopian custom officers are very quick. After
that, passengers relax, sleeping or chatting and eating.
The train crosses a desertic area, although
not without life: goats, camels and their herdsmen are a frequent sight.
Sometimes, the house of a nomadic family can be seen. Not to mention the termite
mounds.
As scheduled, at 12,50 the train stops at Dire Dawa
station, which, again, is about ten kilometres away from the city centre.
After the Ethiopian immigration control, outside the station a good number of
bajaj drivers are waiting for the train passengers. Local prices are much lower
than the Djiboutian ones: even for a foreigner, 100 birr are enough for the
ride from the station to the city centre.
From Dire Dawa to Addis Abeba
In Dire Dawa too, tickets are sold in the
city centre: the EDR (Ethio-Djibouti Railway) office is very conveniently
located in the old railway station, in the Kezira area. Opening
hours: 9,30-15.
The train leaves Dire Dawa station at
12,50. It passes by some villages and towns, with mountains in the background.
The tracks of the old railway can often be
seen from the window.
Although more new stations have been built,
for the time being the only stop before Addis Ababa is Adama. The Addis Ababa station is Furi-Lebu, from which the city centre can be reached in about 30 minutes by taxi (the fare is around 400 birr).
The EDR ticket
sale point in Addis Ababa is located next to the ticket office of the Light
Rail Leghar station (under the railway
bridge, Churchill avenue side). Opening hours: 9,30-11,30, Mondays to
Saturdays.
