Feature: Young Ethiopians aspire to be masters of Chinese-built railway

DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Young Ethiopian professionals taking part in a knowledge transfer program with their Chinese counterparts are aspiring to become the pioneer rail transport masters of the East African nation.

Some 600 young Ethiopians, presently receiving robust theoretical and practical training from Chinese experts, are taking steps towards managing the Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, which began its commercial operations in January this year.

Saliha Muhammed, who is a mechanical engineering graduate, is one of the aspiring Ethiopian youth that are currently participating in the program alongside Chinese professionals.

As she envisaged to become a rail captain in the near future with the help of both technical and practical training, Saliha said she is "so glad to have this opportunity."

"We have received various training that last for 45 days and during the training they showed us every single thing," Saliha said, adding: "It's a good thing that after 2 years we will be the first Ethiopians to take this opportunity, because it's a new chance."

Saliha also praised Chinese professionals for their support in theoretical training and practical demonstrations, saying that "we are very grateful for the knowledge transfer".

The 600 Ethiopians are destined to manage the 756 km-long railway that connects landlocked Ethiopia to its neighboring Red Sea nation of Djibouti.

Mekdes Solomon, who is a train attendant for the railway's passenger service operations, is another Ethiopian who is currently managing the safety of passengers aboard the train, which travels from Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to Djibouti via Ethiopia's second city Dire Dawa, some 446 km east of the capital.

According to Solomon, since rail transportation is a new experience to the two East African countries' people, the role of train attendants is vital for the railway's passengers.

"As we are currently serving passengers' needs, we always encounter new things," Solomon said, adding that "the importance of Chinese colleagues is very critical when it comes to dealing with new experiences."

Built by two Chinese companies, namely the China Railway Group and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, the railway is currently managed by a consortium of Chinese companies which will also cascade the management and operations of the electrified railway over the next six years.

The recently established Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Rail Transport company, among other things, manages the knowledge transfer endeavor in a bid to familiarize locals with railway technology.

Company officials told Xinhua that the knowledge transfer scheme is so far successful. Wang Tao, Human Resource Department Head at the company, said that the 600 local professionals are currently receiving robust technical and practical training in every sector that are related to the normal functioning of the rail system.

Wang, who affirmed the target to entirely manage the railway operations by locals within six years, said the transition to locals can not be done overnight as the railway and its system are state-of-the-art technologies that require effective technical and practical knowledge.

According to Wang, the knowledge transfer procedures vary and will last from a minimum of one year to a maximum of 6 years depending on the nature of each task.

Li Chenwei, a Chinese attendant at the Lebu railway station at the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, is one of the Chinese experts currently mentoring locals concerning the various forms of services that are provided inside railway stations.

"I am happy that local professionals are taking their lessons very fast," said Li, as he looks certain to hand over his post as a station attendant to locals within the coming two years.

Ethiopia had a railway system for much of the 20th century connecting the capital Addis Ababa to the Djibouti port, the century-old railway line was closed due to various challenges, eventually forcing the capital city to depend on truck service as of 2004.

The new Addis Ababa-Djibouti standard gauge railway, which commenced its commercial operations for both passenger and freight operations in January this year, presently services as the major link to Ethiopia's long-serving Djibouti port.

Because the technology is a new to Ethiopians, knowledge transfer is equally given due emphasis so as to ensure the sustainability of the railway system. Enditem