Implementation of Egyptian-Sudanese railway to begin in July

CAIRO – 12 April 2021: Minister of Transportation Kamel al-Wazir stated Sunday in a phone-in that there is a plan to introduce a railway line linking Egypt and Sudan together at a cost of LE 5 billion and that the project would be executed over three years starting July.

The minister was in a visit to Khartoum to hold talks with the Sudanese side upon the directives of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Wazir declared that primary studies carried out by the ministry are over, and that others conducted by Cairo University are still underway noting that the railway will transport passengers and cargo.

The railroad will be extended over 450 kilometers, and that the rail bridge alone will cost additional LE2 billion, the minister said noting that Egypt will repair 60 Sudanese train engines. 

The minister added that other transportation projects will be introduced in Sudan such as inland shipping lines given both countries are also connected with the Nile River. For that purpose, Egypt sent ceramic and iron to renovate Wadi Halfa Port and build a new quay. The project is fully implemented and financed by Egypt.

The ministry is also completing the Cairo-Aswan Road, which will be later extended to borders with Sudan. The road consists of 12 lanes; 6 in each direction.

That road is part of the Cairo-Cape Town Road aimed at linking the African continent together, and within a plan to upgrade 1,155 kilometers of Egyptian roads to join that continental project.