Transport

E-tickets for Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit

23 Dec, 2016

E-Ticketing system to be introduced gradually on AALRT.

The Addis Ababa Light Railway Transit (AALRT) is to introduce an electronic ticket scheme in addition to its current system of purchasing tickets manually at booths in train stations.

The electronic system will be implemented gradually, with e-ticket machines to be installed at Stadium, Abenet, Kadisco and Lem Hotel areas, according to management company Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC).

Around 120,000 commuters a day use the 32-km network, which has 39 stations and two lines: one running from the city centre to the south, the other running east-west.

Tickets currently cost two, four and six birr depending on the distance of the trip, generating about 400,000 birr in daily revenue.

Launched in late 2015, the double track light rail project was constructed by the China Railway Engineering Corporation with $475-million funding from the Export-Import Bank of China.