This article is a list of the railway stations in

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

.
The Eritrean Railway originally ran from

Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...

, a port on the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, via the capital

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

Agordat Agordat (also spelled Akordat or Ak'ordat) is a city in Gash-Barka, Eritrea. It was the capital of the former Barka Province, which was situated between the present-day Gash-Barka and Anseba regions. History Agordat was historically a key ce ...

. The line can be divided into three sections (Massawa-Asmara; Asmara-Keren; Keren-Agordat). Additionally there was until WW2 a potash line, that was used also for civilian service.

Massawa to Asmara

The route was built between 1887 and 1910 by the

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

, who made the two main stations (Asmara and Massawa) with typical structures of railway stations in small Italian cities. As of 2008, this is the only section open.

Asmara to Keren

This section (with the stations) was built between 1911 and 1923. The railway generally followed the Anseba River and one of its tributaries through the mountains between Zazzega and Halib Mentel. Halib Mentel Station 1301

Keren to Agordat

This section was built between 1924 and 1929.

Beyond Agordat

Beyond Agordat, the rails were laid as far as Bishia, another , with plans to extend to Ellit and Teseney, linking with the railway network in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. However this section was never completed. There would have been a

break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally canno ...

at the connection between Sudan and Eritrea.

Potash railway

A line carrying

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

was built to serve the following locations: * Badda * Adaito The gauge line was active from 1905: a 600-mm track gauge line was built by the Italians inside the port of Mersa Fatuma and from it into the hinterland until Kululi near the

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

n border. This was the main source of potash in Eritrea and had to cease operations because of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

of 1929.Neil Robinson. ''World Rail Atlas and Historical Summary.North, East and Central Africa''. London, 2009 (p.35-39).

References

External links

{{Eritrea italiana (Colonia Primigenia) * Railway stations Railway stations

de:Schienenverkehr in Eritrea it:Stazioni ferroviarie dell'Eritrea