Transport Ministry to develop railway, bring new wagons

CAIRO – 28 October 2018: The Transport Ministry will work on developing 1,200 km of railways, with a cost of LE 21 million for each kilometer, Transport Minister Hisham Arafat said Saturday in a press conference.

He added that his ministry has contracted with the European Bank to supply 100 passenger wagons, in addition to contracting to provide another 1,000 upgraded wagons with a total cost of LE 16 billion.

During President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi’s visit to France last week, Arafat signed an agreement with French state-owned railway company SNCF, according to which the French company will cooperate with Egyptian National Railways to study developing a line connecting the new administrative capital with Egypt’s railway network and to study modernizing railway cargo transport.

The SNCF will also provide technical assistance and training.

Additionally, the private sector is expected to get involved in the railway sector in 2018 as amendments to the Railway Act that would open up the sector to private companies are expected to be introduced to the Parliament next month, according to Arafat.

The amendments will allow businesses to build and operate railway lines and bid for upgrading projects.