As an Ethiopian, the title "Has Promise - And Problems" can perhaps be the best way to describe Addis Ababa and the country as a whole. I hope you enjoyed your visit!
Going out in the streets with Kalkidan's cousins and singing in the group as part of celebrating Buhe is so wholesome! And that's the magic of your channel and going to different places to ride their transit systems, you get to experience magical moments like that and dive right into the cultures of each place! By learning about each system, seeing their strengths, seeing systems change lives, advocating for better systems, actually giving places a chance and thoroughly explore each one, moments like this shows that transit truly connects us all together! Mexico wasn't the only country to not recognize Italy's occupation of Ethiopia! China, New Zealand, the Soviet Union, Spain (the Second Spanish Republic before it fell to Franco), and the United States also didn't! Meskel Square has an interesting history! Previously it was known as Stephen Square (after Saint Stephen; there's an Ethiopian Catholic Church in Vatican City that honors Saint Stephen) before its name was changed to Meskel Square in the early 1950s. Traditionally, the bonfire was lit by the Emperor of Ethiopia accompanied by members of the Imperial Family, the nobility, and high officials of the Orthodox Church and government. The celebration moved to the square built for it under Haile Selassie. Following the Derg ending the monarchy with a revolution in 1974, the square expanded so it could accommodate annual Revolution Day and May Day parades. While Meskel still took place there, in 1988, the atheist government ordered it to be moved out. After the last Derg leader Mengistu Haile Mariam fled Ethiopia in May 1991, General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan restored the original name of Meskel Square, and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front government returned the Meskel celebration to the square.
Addis Ababa also has another unique landmark, the Tiglachin Monument, which honors the Ethiopian and Cuban soldiers that liberated Ogaden from Somalia's invasion during the Cold War. Somalia invaded Ethiopia's Ogaden in July 1977, and thanks to Cuba sending between 12K to 18K Cuban soldiers and airmen, they pushed out the Somalis by March 1978. The monument is unique because it was built by the DPRK at Pyongyang's Mansudae Art Studio! The Mansudae Art Studio has built a lot of stuff for overseas under Mansudae Overseas Projects, especially in Africa, like Namibia's State House, Zimbabwe's National Heroes Acre, Namibia's Independence Memorial Museum, Botswana's Three Dikgosi Monument, as well as Africa's biggest monument, the African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, Senegal which is 52 m tall!
I don't think it can be overstated just how solid of a start this is for mass transit in Ethiopia. I think this system and the nation as a whole have a very bright future ahead
@@amadeosendiulo2137 100%. It's not perfect but this is such a huge step forward, without a doubt this has positively impacted the lives of thousands of people in the city. Really cool to see
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHEN IN AFRICA?" Kalkidan asked calmly. Worth mentioning that Menelik II and his wife Taytu Betul also founded Addis Ababa! For some time, Ethiopia lacked a permanent capital, and the royal encampment served as a roving capital. For a time Menelik's camp was on Mount Entoto, and while Menelik II was on campaign in Harar, Empress Taytu Betul camped at a hot spring to the south of Mount Entoto. She decided to build a house there and from 1887 this was her permanent base, which she named Addis Ababa or new flower!
Another interesting African light-rail system is the Metro Express in Mauritius, which runs between Port Louis and the cities outside it in the Plaines Wilhems District, as well as the University of Mauritius's main campus! Yes, the island of Mauritius has light-rail! A great example of a North American light-rail system that goes where people wanna go, has a similar length, and similar daily ridership like Addis Ababa, is the HBLR! The Addis Ababa Light Rail is 19.6 miles/31.6 km while the HBLR is currently (as of June 2024) 17 miles/27.4 km, and the HBLR got a weekday ridership of 51K in 2017 (in Q1 2024, the HBLR had 2,964 weekday riders per mile). Like Addis Ababa, the HBLR has also been a victim of its own success since it was at capacity pre-pandemic. When the HBLR first opened back in 2000, stations like Marin Blvd and Jersey Ave were surrounded by nothing! Today, surrounded by thriving developments! The HBLR goes where people wanna go, whether it's a science museum, university, shopping at the mall, etc! Jersey City has been experiencing a housing boom, and the HBLR has very much played a role in that, with the PATH and the city's bike network and Citi Bike stations complementing it! Not to mention, the city implementing Vision Zero! Jersey City was also the first in New Jersey to implement Vision Zero with an executive order signed by Steven Fulop in 2018, and in 2022, the city realized zero car crash-related fatalities on city-owned streets, the first city of its size in the country to accomplish this! While yes, it is expensive to live in downtown JC, it's also important to note that JC has been building affordable housing units downtown and across the city too, including the new Bayfront TOD complex which will have its own HBLR station. It has become expensive downtown because there’s so much demand for people wanting to move to JC, and it doesn't help that NYC under Eric Adams hasn't been doing their part to solve the housing crisis, and many New Yorkers are now moving to Hudson County.
It’s unfortunate that Africa has gone down the path of massive roads with terrible traffic. Especially with most people can’t afford a car. I saw a video a few years back where traffic in a Nigerian city was so bad that it would take a day to get from one side of the city to the other. This is a great start and if they can run trains every 5 mins and get everything fixed I’d be a great first start! Thanks for showing as a transit system we would otherwise not know much about! I assume Kalkidan helped you translate to Amharic.
Africa has urbanism because most people don’t own cars so businesses need to be near people for them to make money. However the governments are not wealthy enough to produce that much public transit. Therefore we end up in this situation where people must drive to other towns but can walk in their own.
I think it’s great that this system was designed with its own right-of-way from the get-go. I totally agree that it has really good bones as a transit system!
Amazing to see a video on African transit. I love how you learned some Amharic to communicate with the locals! I can imagine, Kalkidan was very appreciative of you visiting her homeland!
East africa has had a lot of exciting rail developments happening across the region over the past decade or so. I was recently watching a video about the newly opened tanzania standard guage railway, which opened for passenger travel on the initial part of the line just 6 days ago!! It's an electric mixed freight/passenger rail line which is meant to connect the port city of dar es salaam to the tanzanian interior, as well as landlocked countries/regions such as rwanda, burundi, uganda, and eastern drc.
Another absolutely incredible video, Caleb! Really so awesomely comprehensive, and it definitely makes me want to visit Addis Ababa (hopefully with a guide as good as Kalkidan and her parents)
Dear SEPTA customers, In our ongoing effort to improve safety, we have decided to implement the Ethiopian Railways security procedure. Every customer will undergo a mandatory pat-down when boarding.
Thanks for sharing this excellent and insightful video. It was interesting to see what the system does well and the challenges it's faced. Hoping Addis Ababa can build out even more higher order transit. I also really like the way you went beyond train/transit nerd stuff and shared insight about the culture and traditions in the city and in Ethiopia.
I think this system would make more sense as a heavy metro, just from seeing how many people use it. Great video! I loved the crunchy grainy nostalgic footage.
Yes, but where is the money for that? USA could afford metros and regional trains in places like Seattle where it wrongly built light rail instead. Ethiopia couldn't afford a heavy metro.
Great video! Looks like the system is a victim of its own success which is nice to see! Needs more rolling stock and probably battery electric ones for the gaps in power cuz you never know when it could go down... Been there myself!
Its sad that its a tad underfunded but I completely agree, the bones of this system are really strong! They mainly need to get the electricity supply, for both the city and the transit system in order, and then the ability to run more services on the existing lines. But they could probably if not order more chinese built trams then buy hand me down ones from other countries. I know some ex-Parisian tram-trains by Siemens are for sale, and they could potentially be a decent fit. But ex-North American LRT equipment might fit even better due to its similar dimensions to the existing rolling stock there. Like if Sacramento, or Denver, or Portland, or heck even Boston try to sell some of their old high floor equipment and its at a low enough price, I believe they could have a great shot at a second life in Ethiopia.
It seems like a tram not a metro it is too little to be a metro like in Cairo or america. They should build them bigger and longer and then build a tramway system in other zones
This seems like a good idea for developing countries because of the low cost. This is similar to the tramway in Casablanca which you rode just this is grade separated
I really enjoyed the video. The Addis Ababa light rail is a work in progress. At least the demand is there. Hopefully, some industrialized countries will invest in the system. And dude, whenever you’re traveling internationally you should bring extra cash.
@@ClassyWhale ok so that is what I heard, but I don't know what that means Jaja like DOTs? (Department of transportation?) Or ... A type of light rail car (cuz it did look familiar)
@@BellaBellaElla dots is a colloquial way to refer to the advertising wraps they put on transit vehicles all around the world - there are tiny "dots" poked through the wrap so people can see out
I am wondering if the system has a depot, because i remember reading somewhere that the system has no depot and that's causing a lot of issues. I may be mistaken, so can anyone please confirm this? Very curious!
Nothing serious. Just getting it working is the priority rn! I would personally love to see a route between Bole Airport, the African Union, and Center City
Still seems pretty impressive despite the problems. I've seen richer countries with worse frequencies and they don't have spare parts issues like this.
Theres actually five national languages of Ethiopia, not just Amharic: Afar, Tigrinya, Afaan Oromo, and Somali are the other four. Not to mention the dozens of other languages spoken such as Sidamo, Wolaytta, Gamo, etc. Not everyone speaks Amharic as a first language even tho it may be the de facto lingua franca in the capital.
WHATDOUMEANWHNINAFRICAAAA
As an Ethiopian, the title "Has Promise - And Problems" can perhaps be the best way to describe Addis Ababa and the country as a whole. I hope you enjoyed your visit!
I very much did and hope to return soon with my fikre!
the continent and the planet as a whole.
Going out in the streets with Kalkidan's cousins and singing in the group as part of celebrating Buhe is so wholesome! And that's the magic of your channel and going to different places to ride their transit systems, you get to experience magical moments like that and dive right into the cultures of each place! By learning about each system, seeing their strengths, seeing systems change lives, advocating for better systems, actually giving places a chance and thoroughly explore each one, moments like this shows that transit truly connects us all together! Mexico wasn't the only country to not recognize Italy's occupation of Ethiopia! China, New Zealand, the Soviet Union, Spain (the Second Spanish Republic before it fell to Franco), and the United States also didn't!
Meskel Square has an interesting history! Previously it was known as Stephen Square (after Saint Stephen; there's an Ethiopian Catholic Church in Vatican City that honors Saint Stephen) before its name was changed to Meskel Square in the early 1950s. Traditionally, the bonfire was lit by the Emperor of Ethiopia accompanied by members of the Imperial Family, the nobility, and high officials of the Orthodox Church and government. The celebration moved to the square built for it under Haile Selassie. Following the Derg ending the monarchy with a revolution in 1974, the square expanded so it could accommodate annual Revolution Day and May Day parades. While Meskel still took place there, in 1988, the atheist government ordered it to be moved out. After the last Derg leader Mengistu Haile Mariam fled Ethiopia in May 1991, General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan restored the original name of Meskel Square, and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front government returned the Meskel celebration to the square.
Addis Ababa also has another unique landmark, the Tiglachin Monument, which honors the Ethiopian and Cuban soldiers that liberated Ogaden from Somalia's invasion during the Cold War. Somalia invaded Ethiopia's Ogaden in July 1977, and thanks to Cuba sending between 12K to 18K Cuban soldiers and airmen, they pushed out the Somalis by March 1978. The monument is unique because it was built by the DPRK at Pyongyang's Mansudae Art Studio! The Mansudae Art Studio has built a lot of stuff for overseas under Mansudae Overseas Projects, especially in Africa, like Namibia's State House, Zimbabwe's National Heroes Acre, Namibia's Independence Memorial Museum, Botswana's Three Dikgosi Monument, as well as Africa's biggest monument, the African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, Senegal which is 52 m tall!
Now it’s Amhara vs Oromo Amhara vs Tigray you’re house is on fire you didn’t beat us by yourselves you cowards already outnumbered us 12 to 1
@@DhadirMohamed-q2xyou are talking to a guy who's account is named Kim Jon Un.
@@DhadirMohamed-q2xEnviousness is itching your ACCURSED STINKY ROTTEN body😂😂😂😂
thanks comrade, we love your last Top Gear episode in the aurus senat
@@DhadirMohamed-q2xlook who's house is already burning and falling apart😂
I don't think it can be overstated just how solid of a start this is for mass transit in Ethiopia. I think this system and the nation as a whole have a very bright future ahead
Africa needs development like that.
@@amadeosendiulo2137 100%. It's not perfect but this is such a huge step forward, without a doubt this has positively impacted the lives of thousands of people in the city. Really cool to see
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHEN IN AFRICA?" Kalkidan asked calmly. Worth mentioning that Menelik II and his wife Taytu Betul also founded Addis Ababa! For some time, Ethiopia lacked a permanent capital, and the royal encampment served as a roving capital. For a time Menelik's camp was on Mount Entoto, and while Menelik II was on campaign in Harar, Empress Taytu Betul camped at a hot spring to the south of Mount Entoto. She decided to build a house there and from 1887 this was her permanent base, which she named Addis Ababa or new flower!
Another interesting African light-rail system is the Metro Express in Mauritius, which runs between Port Louis and the cities outside it in the Plaines Wilhems District, as well as the University of Mauritius's main campus! Yes, the island of Mauritius has light-rail! A great example of a North American light-rail system that goes where people wanna go, has a similar length, and similar daily ridership like Addis Ababa, is the HBLR! The Addis Ababa Light Rail is 19.6 miles/31.6 km while the HBLR is currently (as of June 2024) 17 miles/27.4 km, and the HBLR got a weekday ridership of 51K in 2017 (in Q1 2024, the HBLR had 2,964 weekday riders per mile). Like Addis Ababa, the HBLR has also been a victim of its own success since it was at capacity pre-pandemic. When the HBLR first opened back in 2000, stations like Marin Blvd and Jersey Ave were surrounded by nothing! Today, surrounded by thriving developments! The HBLR goes where people wanna go, whether it's a science museum, university, shopping at the mall, etc! Jersey City has been experiencing a housing boom, and the HBLR has very much played a role in that, with the PATH and the city's bike network and Citi Bike stations complementing it!
Not to mention, the city implementing Vision Zero! Jersey City was also the first in New Jersey to implement Vision Zero with an executive order signed by Steven Fulop in 2018, and in 2022, the city realized zero car crash-related fatalities on city-owned streets, the first city of its size in the country to accomplish this! While yes, it is expensive to live in downtown JC, it's also important to note that JC has been building affordable housing units downtown and across the city too, including the new Bayfront TOD complex which will have its own HBLR station. It has become expensive downtown because there’s so much demand for people wanting to move to JC, and it doesn't help that NYC under Eric Adams hasn't been doing their part to solve the housing crisis, and many New Yorkers are now moving to Hudson County.
Awesome hardly nobody talks about Africa 's public transportation, is usually Europe and North America and that's pretty much it.
the best transport systems are in asia.
It’s unfortunate that Africa has gone down the path of massive roads with terrible traffic. Especially with most people can’t afford a car. I saw a video a few years back where traffic in a Nigerian city was so bad that it would take a day to get from one side of the city to the other. This is a great start and if they can run trains every 5 mins and get everything fixed I’d be a great first start! Thanks for showing as a transit system we would otherwise not know much about!
I assume Kalkidan helped you translate to Amharic.
Africa has urbanism because most people don’t own cars so businesses need to be near people for them to make money. However the governments are not wealthy enough to produce that much public transit. Therefore we end up in this situation where people must drive to other towns but can walk in their own.
I find the comment at 2:44 funny with the censor.
"You're gonna get you're 🐋 stolen"
Whale theft is a serious crime!
yo'rue*
I think it’s great that this system was designed with its own right-of-way from the get-go. I totally agree that it has really good bones as a transit system!
Amazing to see a video on African transit. I love how you learned some Amharic to communicate with the locals! I can imagine, Kalkidan was very appreciative of you visiting her homeland!
Crazy how small the trains are like a 30000 people city in Europe
Will they add longer trains ?
0:33 Love the photobomber
East africa has had a lot of exciting rail developments happening across the region over the past decade or so.
I was recently watching a video about the newly opened tanzania standard guage railway, which opened for passenger travel on the initial part of the line just 6 days ago!! It's an electric mixed freight/passenger rail line which is meant to connect the port city of dar es salaam to the tanzanian interior, as well as landlocked countries/regions such as rwanda, burundi, uganda, and eastern drc.
How many trains run?
wow he actually released this
Another absolutely incredible video, Caleb! Really so awesomely comprehensive, and it definitely makes me want to visit Addis Ababa (hopefully with a guide as good as Kalkidan and her parents)
Dear SEPTA customers,
In our ongoing effort to improve safety, we have decided to implement the Ethiopian Railways security procedure. Every customer will undergo a mandatory pat-down when boarding.
Thanks for sharing this excellent and insightful video. It was interesting to see what the system does well and the challenges it's faced. Hoping Addis Ababa can build out even more higher order transit. I also really like the way you went beyond train/transit nerd stuff and shared insight about the culture and traditions in the city and in Ethiopia.
To think he said in his Ethiopian Rail video that this would come out a week after this....
well you got it, are you happy?
@@ClassyWhale Yes
I think this system would make more sense as a heavy metro, just from seeing how many people use it. Great video! I loved the crunchy grainy nostalgic footage.
Yes, but where is the money for that? USA could afford metros and regional trains in places like Seattle where it wrongly built light rail instead. Ethiopia couldn't afford a heavy metro.
You are very dedicated to deliver content. You do a great research and try to pronounce everything.
Keep it up 👏
Aww thank you!
Great video! Looks like the system is a victim of its own success which is nice to see! Needs more rolling stock and probably battery electric ones for the gaps in power cuz you never know when it could go down... Been there myself!
I like how their writing system looks. Good that they use it and not Latin or Arabic.
there is nothing "good" or "bad" about which script you use.
Off topic: congratulations on your pronunciation of Amharic ejective consonants.
It was a requirement to marry a Kalkidan!
You know it’s a good day when Caleb expands the Classy Lore of the Classy Cinematic Universe
Its sad that its a tad underfunded but I completely agree, the bones of this system are really strong! They mainly need to get the electricity supply, for both the city and the transit system in order, and then the ability to run more services on the existing lines. But they could probably if not order more chinese built trams then buy hand me down ones from other countries. I know some ex-Parisian tram-trains by Siemens are for sale, and they could potentially be a decent fit. But ex-North American LRT equipment might fit even better due to its similar dimensions to the existing rolling stock there. Like if Sacramento, or Denver, or Portland, or heck even Boston try to sell some of their old high floor equipment and its at a low enough price, I believe they could have a great shot at a second life in Ethiopia.
It seems like a tram not a metro it is too little to be a metro like in Cairo or america. They should build them bigger and longer and then build a tramway system in other zones
4:47 I love the TRD taxi van 😂 (Toyota Racing Division)
I like the grainy footage, gives it a 70s vibe. Give it a funk soundtrack, and you've got a whole new film.
This seems like a good idea for developing countries because of the low cost. This is similar to the tramway in Casablanca which you rode just this is grade separated
I really enjoyed the video. The Addis Ababa light rail is a work in progress. At least the demand is there. Hopefully, some industrialized countries will invest in the system.
And dude, whenever you’re traveling internationally you should bring extra cash.
This is wonderful! Love the presence of a video about transit in Ethiopia!!! But what did he say @4:31???
I came all the way to Africa and they have dots
@@ClassyWhale ok so that is what I heard, but I don't know what that means Jaja like DOTs? (Department of transportation?) Or ... A type of light rail car (cuz it did look familiar)
@@BellaBellaElla dots is a colloquial way to refer to the advertising wraps they put on transit vehicles all around the world - there are tiny "dots" poked through the wrap so people can see out
@@ClassyWhale oh ok. Round my way we just call em 'wraps'
I love your pronunciation 👏
6:56 kelal can be light weight or simple
By the way amharic is our working language not a national language.
For anyone who's willing to try the train beware of thieves overcrowding and overheating.
Thanks may brother
Great video! Just curious. What was the temperature🌡️there in °F and °C?
Love seeing above grade light rail lines!! And TOD!!
a 3 section low floor tram on an elevated right of way being the first passenger rail system in a rapidly developing city seems absurd to me.
There’s a new proposed metro extension. “The-proposed-BRT-corridor-B2-line-in-Addis-Ababa-city”
Source?
Good job! 👏
Ah the childhood memories of Buhe!
I am wondering if the system has a depot, because i remember reading somewhere that the system has no depot and that's causing a lot of issues. I may be mistaken, so can anyone please confirm this? Very curious!
They do have a yard/shop down near Kaliti! I got footage of it but it didn't make it in.
@@ClassyWhale oh yeah i can see it on google maps! Hoping the best for this system. It's very interesting!
Another good video form you.
I hope Nigeria is not going to suffer the spare parts issues because they have been gorging on Chinese trains.
they got some of ours, too!
Nice video! Are there any expansions being planned?
Nothing serious. Just getting it working is the priority rn! I would personally love to see a route between Bole Airport, the African Union, and Center City
WELCOME MATE! NEXT TIME YOU COME IT WILL AGAIN BE MUCH MORE DIFFERENT. DON'T JUDGE THE BEGINNING WAIT FOR THE FINAL LOOK.
What's going to change?
@@ClassyWhale I promise you one thing, keep going every single year to visit you will see to believe it. That’s all I can say for now.
Classy🐳 😃
Still seems pretty impressive despite the problems. I've seen richer countries with worse frequencies and they don't have spare parts issues like this.
Come try lagos blue rail🇳🇬
That was awesome!!!
Do you think a London like underground tube system could work in addis in the future?
I was thinking Chicago L!
Addis Ababa is not a mega city like Cairo. Sonan underground will not make sense. Maybe they should follow South African metro system.
underground rail would be expensive. elevated should be enough.
Could you come to Australia please?
Could you fly us there?
@@ClassyWhaleWhy don't you just swim there?
@@ClassyWhale I mean duh, YOU’RE A LITERAL WHALE lol. 🤣💀
Yeah! We have "simple trains" and working escalators!
Theres actually five national languages of Ethiopia, not just Amharic: Afar, Tigrinya, Afaan Oromo, and Somali are the other four. Not to mention the dozens of other languages spoken such as Sidamo, Wolaytta, Gamo, etc.
Not everyone speaks Amharic as a first language even tho it may be the de facto lingua franca in the capital.
Save this video for historic purpose,. The prime minister will remove the light rail. Sad but it is true.
Source?
@@ClassyWhale ua-cam.com/video/zKfgEsywRJg/v-deo.html
Looks like IT SHOULD NOT HAVE GRADE CROSSINGS!!!!!! lol they had to learn 😅 murica
what a fucking mess
Me or the trains lol
@@ClassyWhaleherself