Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Egypt to receive 1st batch of new electric trains from China soon


Sun 21 Mar 2021 | 11:48 AM
Ahmed Emam

Egypt's railways will receive the first batch of the electric train from a fleet of 22 ordered in December 2019 from the Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

On Saturday, the Ministry of Transport reviled that operating the train will start in August. they will be officially operated during October celebrations, according to the National Authorities for tunnels website.

On this basis, Egypt will receive the deal as part of the contract signed between CCECC and the Egyptian Railways Authority for the manufacture and supply of 1,300 electric trains at a cost of US$739 million.

In addition to this, the scheme to develop an electric train line between Cairo and Egypt's new administrative capital, Al-Salam, is gaining momentum. The scheme is also supported by the Exim Bank of China.

It’s worth noting that this China's Company is already linked to the Egyptian government by a contract dating from 2015 for the renovation of all existing railway lines in the country.

Lately, Former Transport Minister Hesham Arafat has concluded a £1.2 billion (nearly $67 million) loan agreement with Exim Bank of China.

In the same context, these funds are intended to finance the electric train project that will link Al-Salam, the new administrative capital and 10th of Ramadan City located on the outskirts of the city of Cairo. Meanwhile, this loan will be repayable over 20 years.

It's worth mentioning that the railway line will extend over a length of 67 km, with 11 stations. Arafat said that work on the first phase will begin by the end of 2019. According to the National Tunnel Authority (NAT).

Moreover, the railway will mostly be on the surface, crossing Badr and Al-Shorouk, two cities in northeast Cairo.