This happens when you construct electric trains without a well coordinated plan for power and other infrastracture. If Ethiopia with its power generation capability can experience this, what about Tanzania? Lets wait and see when the so called bullet train will be complete and up and running
Travellers' reports...
Traveller Clément reports from the first public run in January 2018: "A contact told me the train left at 8am. I arrived at the train station of Furi-Lebu at 7am. The ticket counters are on the right of the station. They were surprised I was going to Djibouti as all the other passengers would stop at Dire Dawa. If you go to Djibouti, make sure you already have a visa even if you are entitled to get a visa at the border, otherwise they'll most probably deny selling you a ticket to Djibouti. Even though it is in the same building, you have to go outside in order to get in the waiting hall. The federal police does a thorough search of your bags when entering the hall. They stop letting you in 5 minutes before departure. The train starts as soon as all passengers are on. Since we were only 20ish passengers, it departed at 7:55. There is a counter for the Ethiopian customs to check border crossing passengers, but it was closed and I was told we'd do the immigration stuff at the border. The Chinese management company told the two governments to install Djiboutian immigration counters in Ethiopian stations and vice versa to speed up the process at the border but the governments haven't yet agreed on the formalities. Hopefully, it should change as they get more international passengers. The train is managed by a Chinese company though the hostess and a few other staff are Ethiopians . The Chinese manager told me we would arrive at 8pm rather than the scheduled 6pm because usually there are power cuts and stops for various reasons.
The train has 1 car with VIP 4-berth compartments, 1 car of 6-berth open compartments with seats and power outlets in the hallway, 1 dining-car selling very basic food (a basic "sandwich", some cookies, chips and water - though it was their inaugural journey) and 8 hard-seats cars with 118 seats. Dining and hard seat cars only have power outlets for the attendants. The train currently stops in Adama and Dire Dawa only as the other stations are not ready and not yet staffed. We stopped twice between Lebu and Adama, including once for 5 minutes because we hit a goat at a road crossing (the management company then sends some of its local staff to pay compensations). We arrived in Adama at 9:15 and stopped for about 40 min for an unknown reason. The train then passes through less populated areas at between 90 and 100 km/h; you're in the very basalt-y plain of the rift valley, surrounded by soon-to-be woken small volcanoes. After riding 2h15 from Adama, the train stopped in the bush not far from Metehara. I saw a goat on the side that couldn't seem to use its back legs. I thought it was giving birth ("cuuuute") until I realized there were more inanimate goats a few meters further. The train had gone full speed through a herd, killing 30. Locals came and there were soon 30ish people around the train. The four federal police guys who are always aboard the train went to discuss with them as usual. However the shepherd didn't want to let the train go until he gets compensated (for 70 goats, since some were pregnant and some cubs need their dead mother...). More federal and local police came, about 20 in total. The train left after 7 (!) hours of negotiations which, according the the Chinese boss in the train, included some calls to the Ethiopian minister of transport and the head of the federal police in Addis, at dusk (I suspect the shepherd let it go because they had to go home for diner, otherwise they would have stayed!). The boss told me "they do it on purpose to get money. They ask an unreasonable price. The other day we killed 12 camels and they asked for a million birr".
We then went straight to Dire Dawa. The train was so late than we stopped in Dire Dawa for the night. It was supposed to leave Dire Dawa for Djibouti at 2:52 pm; we arrived at 9:30pm. The train managers were very sorry and stressed that it is the very beginning of the operations and it will improve with time. They were pretty efficient in managing the situation, booked a hotel in Dire Dawa and took us there by 4x4 even though I told them I wouldn't mind sleeping in the train. Next day, the train was supposed to leave to Djibouti after midday, as the train from Djibouti was due to arrive at 11:30ish, and there is only one track on most of the journey. I got a phone call at 9:40am saying a car is waiting for us at the hotel to take us to the station. Once at the station (about 20 min from the centre on a soon-to-be-paved road), the federal police didn't want to let me in until the Ethiopian immigration guy checks my passport. Re-thorough bag check, then a guy used the immigration counter to register my departure from Ethiopia. Having lived here for 2 years, I expected a wide range of possible problems (no internet connection, fingerprint machine or camera not working...). However it went pretty smoothly, albeit a bit slow, about 10 min. The train waited for me since I represented 50% of the 2 passengers.
We left at 10:40. After 1h40 of normal ride the train got stuck for 30min in the desert because there was no electricity. Then we were running at 110 km/h according to the GPS. We stopped again because of power failure at 13:15 and power came back 1h later. Apparently they once got stuck for 10h... We stopped at Ayesha station 40 km from the Djibouti border for 30 min to meet the train from Djibouti and leave half the crew to join it. The other train has about 30 Djiboutian passengers. Then another 2-min stop as we killed a young camel. Ouch! No-one was around so we continued. We arrived at the border at 3:35pm. We were waiting for the Ethiopian immigration guys to come from the border for the 2 Ethiopian ladies of the dining car as the other passenger and I already got the exit stamps in Dire Dawa. Finally, only the Djiboutian immigration police arrives, just as the train was about to leave to meet them at the road border checkpoint, a couple of km ahead. Everyone gathers in the dining car because there is no water or electricity in the immigration building. Then after 20 min the Ethiopians arrive. Everything is set in 30 minutes but the train only leaves at 5:10 pm. Stop at the Ali Sabieh train station 20 min later. We arrived in Djibouti Negab station at 6:20 pm. The station is to be inaugurated next morning by the president.
