Description
The idea of constructing a railway to link the Ethiopian capital with the coast appears to have been first conceived by Menelik's Swiss adviser, Alfred Ilg, who had first arrived in Ethiopia in 1877. Gradually the agreement between Emperor Menelik II and the Swiss engineer Alfred Ilg, resulted in the formation of the railway company called “the Compagnie Imperiale des Chemin de fer Ethiopien” in July 1896.The first plan that presupposed the line should pass through the town of Harar to Entoto , however , the engineers and the company found it too expensive to bring the line up to the escarpment .Thus instead the line made to pass through desert plain creating an opportunity for foundation of new Harar(Dire Dawa) in Dec 24 1902 which further facilitated by availability of abundant water resource for the cooling system of the then functioning trains large plain suitable for the construction of the railway yards, repair stalls, workshops as well as living quarters for the officials and worker of the company and finally A location of approximately half-way between Djibouti and Addis Ababa.
Eventually Dire Dawa become the birth place of modern Ethiopian Trade, Investment Technology ,service and of course various superb industries. The first and foremost attraction of Dire Dawa is a love, peace, openness and friends hipness of its people and beauty of the town. The manifold interactions between the diverse nation and nationalities of Ethiopia and foreign national from Africa, Europe, Asia and others enable the town to become symbol of cross-cultural understanding with a unique culture of tolerance and respect that transcends any cultural, religious, creed, ethnic, color, and other national barriers; Likewise one can experience architecture, cultural value and life style of people from every corner of the world in a very small setting.
