A proper development of railway transportation is critical for sustainable socio-economic and environmental benefits. Nonetheless, in Eritrea, a country that once had a vibrant railway system, it is currently nonfunctional. There are also ambitious sectoral investments in neighboring Ethiopia and Sudan, pressing Eritrea to revitalize its decimated railway transportation system. Therefore, this study used population settlement pattern, environmental and physical criteria as inputs to a least-cost multi-criteria decision-making for modeling the railway network for Eritrea. Accordingly, seven railway routes, covering a total of 1, 610 km distance, were modeled. Four are running in the north-to-south directions, while three are running in the east-to-west directions. This railway network will give services to 5 out of 6 Eritrean’s administrative regions, where 93% of the estimated 5.8 million people reside. Additionally, it will service the 21 urban centers, where an estimated population of 1,658,749 live; approximately 70% of Eritrea’s urban population. Besides, it shall boost regional integration, peace, and development thereof, in an otherwise conflict-ravaged geographical region.