A railway line from Addis Abeba to a Sudanese port is afoot under the two governments after a Canadian consulting firm completed a feasibility study.

Pacific Consulting Services, which won the bid for consultancy services for close to 1.2 million dollars, has submitted the study for a project covering 1,522Km, with 918Km confounded in Sudan. The African Development Fund has provided the finance to pay the consultant. The initial finance for the study was granted from NEPAD-Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF).

The Ethio-Sudan railway project is part of the far-fetched Lamu Port Southern Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPPSET) corridor development. It is expected to connect the two countries with Kenya in logistics and transport. The development of Lamu Port, a standard gauge railway line between Port Sudan and Addis Abeba, three airports, port cities, an oil refinery and multiple road networks are all part of this ambitious project.

The LAPPSET project was conceived in 1975, and the Kenyans revived it in the 2000s. The total completion cost is estimated to reach 40 billion dollars if it is realised by 2045. The China Communications Constructions Company broke ground on the development of the Lamu Port in 2012, which will have 32 berths, with three beginning operation last May.

Ethiopian and Sudanese authorities requested the African Development Bank (AfDB) for financial assistance in 2016.

The two countries have signed multiple bilateral agreements, the most vital being Ethiopia's utilisation of the Sudan port. In 2018 an agreement was reached that the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) would be the executing agency with the railway route passing through Addis Ababa- Gonder-Galabat-Haiya to Port Sudan.

The Corporation is a state-owned enterprise established in 2007 to manage a national railway network with access to neighbouring countries.

Kassahun Abberu (PhD), general manager of Akakas Logistics Plc, does not mind seeing the construction of a railway track. However, he believes the layout should consider the resource base and industry concentration along the track lines.