The Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway, as a magnificent link connecting the East African Plateau and the Red Sea coast, is the first cross-border electrified railway in East Africa to adopt standard gauge. Since its commercial operation, it has not only become an important force driving economic prosperity in the Horn of Africa region, but also injected new vitality into local development. At the six-year achievements and future outlook press conference and turnkey ceremony held on May 10th local time, we witnessed the successful completion of the Chinese team's operation and maintenance services, and also opened a new starting point for the future operation and development cooperation of China, Ethiopia, and Djibouti on the Addis Ababa Djibouti railway.

The Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway, a magnificent railway line that extends westward from the bustling capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, to the eastern end of Djibouti Port, has a total length of 752.7 kilometers. It is not only an important achievement under the the Belt and Road Initiative and China Africa cooperation framework, but also the first full industry chain project of Chinese enterprises in the field of overseas railway construction.

Since its official commercial operation on January 1, 2018, the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway has operated 2500 passenger trains over six years, with a passenger volume of 680000; 7700 freight trains were operated, with a cargo volume of 9.5 million tons and a cargo turnover of 7 billion tons per kilometer. Within six years, high-quality services such as cold chain transportation, morning and evening buses, trackless stations in the Oriental Industrial Park, convenient trains along the line, and private car transportation trains have been opened successively, with an average annual growth rate of 39% in transportation revenue. At the same time, we are making every effort to promote localization and have completed a total of 2840 railway talent training certifications, helping Ethiopia and Djibouti establish a local team of electric locomotive drivers.

At the grand turnkey ceremony held on the 10th, senior government officials from Ethiopia and Djibouti highly praised the positive role played by the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway in promoting regional economic prosperity and development.

Hassan Humed, Minister of Transport Infrastructure and Equipment of Djibouti, stated that port economy is very important for Djibouti. After the opening of the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway, the economic benefits of ports have increased by about 20%, and this effect is very significant. After the handover, the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway was officially handed over to the Ethiopian Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway Co., Ltd. However, how to lead diversified investment to solve supporting problems and achieve a qualitative leap and sustainable operation of the Addis Ababa Djibouti Railway remains the focus of future cooperation and development among China, Egypt, and Kyrgyzstan. Keywords: the Belt and Road news, the Belt and Road project, overseas project.

Dai Hegen, Chairman of China Railway Construction Corporation, stated that this path is a win-win cooperation, a happy path of consultation, construction, and sharing. There is still a lot of room for the production capacity of this line to be fully utilized. We still need to continue our cooperation, such as establishing a joint venture between the two countries, to unleash our potential and benefit the people of both countries. (This article is from the official website of Jiandao: www.seetao. com. Reproduction without permission is not allowed, otherwise it will be punished. Please indicate Jiandao's website and the original link when reprinting.) Jiandao's mechanical column editor/Zhou Yingwen