Permanent project revision

Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit

Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates · effective 2026-08-07

Superseded. A later revision exists: 2026-08-26-claim-mapping →

unreviewed

Created the first structured Evidence Passport with 1 claim and 8 source dossiers.

sha256:e54c88887b6ea6d7babdf9ea0b0a0755c16408fcadc1e80a65afaf3edae39fa0

All revisions → Current entity page →

Change set

add /evidencePassport — Added claim-level evidence mapping and source dossiers.
add /revisionHistory — Established a permanent, hash-addressed baseline revision.

1: of 1 claims mapped
8: source dossiers
4: publication dates recorded
0: archives linked
0: exact locators
0: content captures hashed

Claims, one by one

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-614b44b62845e62a quantitative

Daily ridership of roughly 45,000-56,000 remains far under the 2016 peak near 113,500

Published field: impact · verbatim
Mapping: mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says: The May 2026 assessment puts ridership at about 55,000 a day with roughly a third of the 41 trains operational — far below the line's early peak.
Caveat: The 2016 peak figure and the range's lower bound come from other sources in this entry; operator statements have run above press counts.

Sources carrying this claim

Amb. David H. Shinn blog — assessment of the project (May 2026)

Source dossiers and revision state

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates effective 2026-08-07 · created 2026-08-20

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:e54c88887b6ea6d7babdf9ea0b0a0755c16408fcadc1e80a65afaf3edae39fa0

Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →

1: of 1 claims mapped
8: source dossiers
4: publication dates recorded
0: archives linked
0: exact locators
0: content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator: Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC), with technical operations run jointly with Shenzhen Metro Group
Actor types: utility
Funding model: public
Funding description: Not recorded
Cost: Not recorded
Ownership: Not recorded
Decision rights: Not recorded
Exit conditions: Not recorded

8 source dossiers

Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC) — official operator/regulator page erc.gov.et · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-3fd24de09472b1b1
Publisher: Name not classified · erc.gov.et
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-08-07
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Official page describing the line and ERC's role; returned an intermittent 503 during research, re-check before publishing
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Wikipedia — Addis Ababa Light Rail en.wikipedia.org · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-9ed9f5a1a8ddec83
Publisher: Name not classified · en.wikipedia.org
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-08-07
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Opening dates, length/stations, builder/financier, fleet and ridership figures; describes it as the first light rail/rapid transit in East and sub-Saharan Africa
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Semafor — 'Ethiopia's China Addis Ababa rail collapse $60m problem' (Feb 2023) semafor.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-194ee29a3f38f959
Publisher: Name not classified · semafor.com
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2023-02-02
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-08-07
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Independent reporting on the spare-parts/financing crisis, only 8 of 41 trains running as of Feb 2023
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

South China Morning Post — China's continued technical support amid decline scmp.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-87950770fefa6492
Publisher: Name not classified · scmp.com
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2023-02-17
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-08-07
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Independent press on continued Chinese technical support amid operational decline, incl. a $23m spare-parts agreement covering seven more trains
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Amb. David H. Shinn blog — assessment of the project (May 2026) davidshinn.blogspot.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-7587a663f34404a4
Publisher: Name not classified · davidshinn.blogspot.com
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-08-07
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Quotes: 'only about a third of its 41 trains are operational'; ridership 'just 55,000 passengers a day'; project 'fell far short of its promises' and added new traffic bottlenecks rather than easing them
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: clm-614b44b62845e62a

Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit Signaling System Design Analysis (AAU thesis repository) etd.aau.edu.et · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-0760fa8836d6d194
Publisher: Name not classified · etd.aau.edu.et
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-08-07
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Engineering-level description of the line's signal/grade-crossing protection system
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

FSX Business — 'Addis Ababa Light Rail Sees Passenger Surge to 75,000 as Fuel Shortage Bites' (28 Apr 2026) fsxbusiness.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-8eb53926bb341642
Publisher: Name not classified · fsxbusiness.com
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-08-07
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Operator-sourced: 17 of 41 trains in service, ridership surged from a baseline ~45,000 to ~75,000 amid a fuel shortage; CEO cites plans to return two more trains and couple trains at peak
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

2merkato (citing Ethiopian Herald/ERC) — 'Addis Ababa Light Rail Expands Fleet and Boosts Performance' (6 Aug 2025) 2merkato.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-35eaabe8781be1e2
Publisher: Name not classified · 2merkato.com
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2025-08-06
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-08-07
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Trägt die Betreiberangabe: 19 von 41 Zügen instandgesetzt zum Ende des äthiopischen Fiskaljahrs 2025, Ziel 25 für 2026, 16,5 Mio. Jahresfahrgäste — als operator claim gekennzeichnet.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Known limits of this passport

Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.