Djibouti(Mogadishu24)-On Sunday, Djibouti’s Minister of Transport, Hassan Mohamed, hosted Takele Uma Banti, CEO of Ethio-Djibouti Railways, during a working visit to discuss plans to modernize and enhance services of the Ethio-Djibouti railway.

The meeting also reinforced the strong ties between the two neighboring countries. Ethiopian Ambassador to Djibouti, Berhanu Tsegaye, and Djiboutian officials, including the CEO of Djibouti-Ethiopia Railway, Hassan Mohamed Kamil, were present at the discussions.

“Along with the CEO of the Ethio-Djibouti Railway,@TakeleUma, we have a meeting with the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Djibouti, H.E. Yonis Ali Guedi, in the presence of EDR staff, to acknowledge both countries for their efficient service in connecting the railway to the Horizon Terminal”, Ethiopian Ambassador to Djibouti, Berhanu Tsegaye said on X Monday.

The Ethio-Djibouti Railway, a 752.7-kilometer electrified standard gauge railway connecting landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti’s Red Sea ports, has significantly reduced transportation times for freight from over three days to less than 20 hours.

Since its inception in January 2018, the railway has helped Ethiopia gain better access to maritime trade, cut costs by a third, and transported 9.5 million tonnes of goods via 7,700 freight trains. Additionally, 2,500 passenger trains have carried 680,000 passengers.

The railway is East Africa’s first electrified transnational line, built and initially managed by China’s Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway Engineering Corporation. The management was handed over to the Ethiopian and Djiboutian governments, with over 2,800 local staff now trained in operations, maintenance, and safety.

This meeting followed Djibouti’s recent announcement offering Ethiopia a free port with full control management to alleviate tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia.