Transport: Riding the rails in Ethiopia and Kenya

Ethiopia and Kenya are in a race to complete ambitious railway projects, but while Addis Ababa is in a frenzy of construction its East African neighbour may have hit the buffers.

At Meskel Square, in the heart of Addis Ababa, traffic is even more chaotic than usual as cars, buses and pedestrians weave around the 5.5m-high pillars now straddling an eight-lane highway.

Confusion reigns too at Mexico Square to the west and Megenagna round-about to the east – evidence that work on the city’s light rail transit (LRT) system is progressing at a phenomenal pace.

Bringing in the resources from the rural areas for processing is a problem. Part of that is transportation costs being high

East Africa is home to a series of promising rail projects, from Kenya’s standard gauge line to the railroad linking the Ethiopian capital to the port of Djibouti.

Read the original article on Theafricareport.com : Transport: Riding the rails in Ethiopia and Kenya | East & Horn Africa
Follow us: @theafricareport on Twitter | theafricareport on Facebook