LRT Railway – An Opportunity for More Sustainable Development

The inauguration of the first phase of the country’s first light rail trail (LRT) and its starting point and its Adly Mansour Interchange Station has a potential to change the dynamics of domestic transport among the Egyptian provinces and beyond.

The new electric railway line would link Cairo's railway network with the wider railway corridors along Egypt's Railway Network, opening new prospects for sustainable railway transport for these places.

It can transform the New Capital from a remote place to a mega city by integrating its rail network with the rest of the country’s cities and governorates.

And it will give a big push to railway transport that has hitherto been underutilized in new communities opening opportunities for enhancing the sustainability of the transport mechanism.

By connecting new communities with Cairo and other vital cities like Alexandria in the north and Aswan city in the south and providing improved access to education for all citizens, Egypt's new rail system and its new electric trains also support a more perse, more skilled workforce, as well as cultural exchange, which is key to social cohesion.

Egypt's new rail projects will reduce road congestion and carry more customers and more freight using less energy than most other modes of transport. It also produces fewer emissions.

Once the three phases of the LRT will be completed, the service will cover a distance of 103.3 kilometers with the ability to accommodate up to one million commuters daily through 19 stations connecting several districts nationwide, according to the Minister of Transportation Kamel El-Wazir

"Each LRT train carriage can accommodate up to 300 passengers, with a total capacity of 1,300 passengers," El-Wazir said.

Also in this regard, he pointed out that the train tracks are secured by barbed wire fencing in both directions.

"The 1.1 million square meters central Adly Mansour station, the largest in the Middle East, includes seven transport modes — namely the Cairo-Suez Railway Line, Cairo Metro’s third line, the LRT, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System, and the SuperJet buses that run along three lines nationwide."

The station was built as part of the country’s efforts to upgrade its transportation sector and encourage citizens to depend on environmentally friendly means of mass transportation, El-Wazir said, adding that the new station comes in line with the state's strategy to further enhance the competitive advantages of rail transport by streamlining border crossing formalities through, among others, electronic information exchange; accelerating rail digital transformation; promoting innovative policies to encourage a shift to rail; and decarbonizing rail transport.

The station, which is named after the country’s former interim president Adly Mansour (2013-2014), includes a full-service transportation complex and a commercial investment zone on a total area of 15 acceres.

In the same context, El-Wazir said the LRT’s carriages offer a high level of railway security for commuters and feature WiFi services and on-board displays.

The LRT is a sustainable means of green mass transportation since it runs on electricity instead of diesel. The 22 trains of the LRT also include seats allocated for people with special needs, stressing that all the LRT’s stations are configured to facilitate access and movement for people with disabilities.

In addition to being linked to various means of transportation in Adly Mansour Interchange Station, the LRT will also intersect with Egypt’s under construction monorail at the Arts and Culture Centre Station in the NAC, along with Egypt’s first high-speed electric railway at an interchange station on the Cairo-Sokhna Highway, according to the ministry of transportation.

Ultimately, there is also huge potential for container transport between Egypt and Africa through this railway line along the wider routes of the Trans-Africa Railway network.