Description of railway stations

Railway stations mostly have a single platform for passengers to enter or to leave trains. These platforms allow access without having the need to use stairs. Some have two platforms connected through a footbridge above the overhead catenary system. The platforms are roofed to protect passengers against sun, wind and rain. Railway stations for passenger trains always have a station building directly attached to the back of the principal platform. Consequently, all railway stations with a single platform have space for only one platform line and do not allow the presence of more than one train at the platform at the same time. In contrast, railway stations with two platforms have the space for two or three platform lines. All platforms are around 330 meters long.

The station buildings are used for ticketing and for refreshments and contain waiting rooms and even rooms for prayers. They have media available (at least electricity, water). The outer appearance of station buildings of the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway shows some sort of architectural eclecticism including Ethiopian elements with some Chinese interpretation and rounded elements. The railway station buildings on the Awash–Hara Gebeya Railway are rather functional and rectangular.

The stations on the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway were built in 2015 and 2016, the stations on the Awash–Hara Gebeya Railway were built in 2017 and 2018 for the section between Awash and Kombolcha. For the sections between Kombolcha and Hara Gebeya and between Hara Gebeya and Mek'ele, all stations are planned. No clear date for building them is known.

In the following, most stations are coined [sic] closed, these do exist but there is no use by passengers yet (train stations would be operational but there are no scheduled passenger services yet). Some stations are called U/C, meaning under construction, others are planned and do not exist up to now. In total, there are 36 railway stations (existing, under construction and planned).

List of railway stations

Main stations

Station	built	Status	Image
Dire Dawa	1902 / 1910	open	-
Addis Ababa	1917 / 1929	defunct	-

Other stations