Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held a meeting on Sunday with Chairman of Bombardier Transportation Inc.
The meeting was held in the presence of Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli and Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir, Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said.
The meeting touched bolstering joint cooperation between Egypt and Bombardier in setting up a new monorail system in the country, Rady added.
During the meeting, the Transport Minister signed a contract with Bombardier’s chairman over constructing a 96 km-monorail for connecting the New Administrative Capital (NAC) with Greater Cairo and 6th October City.
Rady pointed out that the contract will be valid for 30 years and includes the costs of operation and maintenance of the monorail lines, in addition to providing needed spare parts.
The contract includes establishing full partnership between Egypt and the international company in favor of the railway system, as well as opening up the door for more monorail projects in the African markets.
Two Egyptian construction firms, Orascom and Arab Contractors, will also work on the new system.
One objective of constructing the NAC is to relieve congestion in Cairo, one of the world’s most crowded cities. To do so will require a fast and efficient public transport network.
In 2017, Egypt's ministries of transportation and housing accepted preliminary blueprints from national and international companies interested in building the country's first electric elevated railway network.
One of the proposed elevated railway lines will stretch over 35km from 6 October City to suburban Giza, while another planned line would extend the 52km from Nasr City to New Cairo.
Built in the 1980s, Cairo's metro transported about four million passengers daily in the 2013/14 fiscal year, according to the Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation (ECMMO).
The company expects to transport about 6 million passengers per day in the financial year 2019/2020.
Follow the latest news on Google News
