The Eritrean railway system extended for about 306.4kms stretching from the port city of Massawa to Agordat via the capital city, Asmara. Its route ascends from the sea level to 2394 meters above sea level and descends to an altitude of 650 meters in Agordat. The sharp increase and decrease in altitude within a short distance, the beautiful scenery it crosses and artistically built bridges and tunnels makes the line uniquely spectacular .

The construction of the railway line was started in Autumn of 1887 and reached Asmara in December 1911 and the Agordat terminus in February 1928. There are 30 stations, 1548 curves and 39 tunnels. It was originally intended to continue the lie to tesseney and beyond and rails were laid as far as Bisha.(31kms from Agordat). The railway system was the largest employer, had well equipped workshops and garages, efficient communication network. It was rendering services for 24 hours in each direction on the Asmara-Massawa line. But with the end of the Italian colonial rule over Eritrea, the glorious rail network of our region, was put in to jeopardy and finally was closed by the successor colonial powers of the British and Ethiopians respectively.

After 20 years of destruction, despite other priorities, the government of Eritrea launched a project to rehabilitate the railway system in May 1994. The first phase of the project ( to rebuild Massawa-Asmara line) is completed in February 2003.

At present the Eritrean railway service has started providing tour services to local and foreign tourists as per their requirements and capacity using steam and diesel trains. Apart from the chartered services, the Eritrean railway has started to provide round trip services that anyone can join from Asmara to Nefasit and Arberebue on Sundays.

To contact the Eritrean railway services call at 291-1-123365 fax-291-1-201785