The amazing story of Eritrean Railways

hi!

i saw an amazing story i think is worth being heard. it’s the story of railroads of Eritrea and the people who operate them. the Eritreans choose to instead of relying on foreign help, they rely on their own ingenuity and muscle to rebuild their railroad and keep their fleet of ancient steam engines rolling.

here is a video describing the story

the Eritrean coast is hot, dry and fairly plain. but once going inland, there are the highlands, a more humid and much higher place with mountain forest, pastures and a much more humid climate.

it was once an Italian province, and the Italians decided to start build a railway network to connect the coast, the port town of Asmara and the city of Massawa in the highlands. it was a major feat of engineering, since the numerous tunnels, bridges and viaducts had to be built.

after the war in the 90s, with Ethiopia, in which Eritrea got its independence, rebuilding of now destroyed railway system was one of high priority.

the newest equipment is 50 years old, while the most predating second world war.

seems that during the war Eritreans have developed a “can do” mentality, of relying on themselves and their own resources rather than asking for outside help.

after the war rebuilding of the railway system began, but the people doing it were facing immense problems: tracks were gone – during the war soldiers used the sleepers and rails to cover trenches.
these had to be extracted from bunkers scattered around the highlands and painstakingly, by human labor, brought back, straightened (again, with human labor), and set in place.

in the main railroad yard at Asmara there were railroad cars and steam locomotives, but they had to be pit back in working order, and none of the younger people was qualified or knew how to drive or repair them.

so the older folks were called upon out of retirement, many of whom were well in their seventies, to come back and rebuild the fleet, and to pass down the knowledge of working and repairing old engines to the younger generation.

together with their young apprentices, in 1996. they started rebuilding and repairing the locomotives the best they could with available tools – they had no power tools! and a budget of 10 million dollars to rebuild

the estimated cost of rebilding the railroad system was calculated by talians to be about 200 million dollars. yet the eritreans want to do it with only 10 million dollars.

this was back in 1996.

today, there are steam trains rolling the tracks. videoalso, this page.

the success of reviving the railroad system that was so destroyed with this little money and without outside help is truly a monument of what people can do.

it seems that we in the west have almost forgotten that out own history also has such stories to tell, and that, no matter the political or religious issues, human igenuity is one of mankind’s most important traits (besides ethics).
it has gotten mankind through lots of hardships in history, and we are lucky to have it with us no matter there the future will take us all.