Ethiopia, Sudan to Be Linked by RailEthiopia is conducting feasibility study to build a railway linking Port Sudan and Ethiopia's southern town of Moyale, Minister of Transport and Communications Mohammed Drir said on Monday.An agreement to build the railway was reached during an Ethiopia-Sudan joint ministerial commission meeting in Khartoum from March 3 to 5, 2000, following which a technical committee has been set up to undertake studies into the project, Mohammed said. He said that a study conducted by Ethiopian experts has suggested two possible options for linking the two countries by rail. One is the construction of a 2,160-km railway line running from Port Sudan to Ethiopian southern border town of Moyale through Sudan's Shewoko and Ethiopia's of Mekele, Mille, Awash, Nazareth and Assela. The other is the construction of a 2,240-km railway starting from Port Sudan via Sudan's Galabat and Ethiopia's Metema, Gondar, Woldya and Mille to Moyale. Mohammed said that the choice between the two options will be made based on the outcome of studies. The minister gave the preliminary estimate of the cost of the project as 1.422 billion U.S. dollars for the first option and 1.588 billion dollars for the second, adding that the issues related to overall funding will be dealt with by the two country's next joint meeting. He indicated that preparations are underway to seek local and foreign partnership to fund the project. |
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