ETHIOPIA-FRANCE-TRANSPORT-HISTORY

Passengers look on after boarding the old train in Shinile, Ethiopia, on October 25, 2022. - Over a century after the French laid a railroad in eastern Ethiopia, the old track remains indispensable for trade and transport, even with the recent arrival of a modern, Chinese-built line.Twice a week, passengers and cargo pile into carriages dating from 1955 to make the 12-hour, 200-kilometre (125-mile) journey by diesel locomotive from Dire Dawa to Dewele, on the border of Djibouti.The journey today spans the only functioning part of the original 784-kilometre line, that once ran between Addis Ababa, the capital of landlocked Ethiopia, and Djibouti City on the Gulf of Aden.Since 2016, a modern, electrified railway line built by China connects the two capitals anywhere between 12 hours and 18 hours. (Photo by Amanuel Sileshi / AFP) (Photo by AMANUEL SILESHI/AFP via Getty Images)