Worked commenced at Djibouti on construction of the 485 mile long line in 1897, utilising French capital. Difficult working conditions resulted in the 192 miles to Dire Dawa not being completed until 1902 with work on the onward extension not being started until 1908. With further delays caused by the First World War Addis Ababa was not reached until 1917. As a result of these delays Dire Dawa became established as the headquarters & main workshops of the railway. The line climbs 7700 feet over its length and with arid conditions at its eastern end of the line, it had been completely dieselised by 1956.
After WW2 trafftc on the railway progressively declined firstly due to road competition & later through conflict; so with declining maintenance standards the line between Addis Ababa & Dire Dawa was closed in 2008. In spite of various restoration attempts this section was never reopened and in January 2018 a new electrified standard gauge railway was opened linking Addis Ababa & Djibouti. Although the situation is unclear, there are plans to rehabilitate 150kms of the metre gauge line west from Dire Dawa to Mieso.

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