EDR completes maiden heavy truck transport on rail

Ethio-Djibouti Railway (EDR) commences transportation of imported heavy trucks by train from Djibouti port to Addis Ababa for the first time.
One of the services EDR launched this year was to transport automobiles from the port of Djibouti to the center of the country, which now has come to fruition.
“Motor importing firms are requesting EDR to start importation through train which is often a safer service. Now, we have further increased our service and launched the first service in our Nation to transport trucks from the port of Djibouti to the interstate,” revealed the company. The trucks has arrived at Endode Railway station this week.
In a single voyage the company which is jointly owned by Ethiopia and Djibouti has the capacity to move 240 vehicles to the center. In the past few months’ relevant offices and logistics companies of the two countries have been working on the vehicle freights process through the cross country electrified railway system.
According to the company, the new initiative will save energy and cargos will be transported in bulk in less than 20 hours.
“It was reported that the transport services of the railway were preferable in terms of speed, price, and automobile safety. Transporting vehicles from the port of Djibouti using trucks takes days,” contrasted logisticians that work for the company.
EDR has 20 wagons that can transport about 240 vehicles in a single fleet. A single wagon can carry up to 14 vehicles and the number depends on the size of the vehicles.
Although dependent on the size of the cargo cars, the vehicles shipment capacity of EDR on average is about 24 folds of car carrier trucks on its single fleet.
Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Transport has been engaging in transporting both import and export goods including edible oil, fertilizer, full container loads, steel, and other goods as well as passenger rail transportation services from the port of Djibouti to the center of the country since its inception in 2018.