Egypt to establish 'transport school' to produce highly skilled engineers

CAIRO – 15 June 2022: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli attended Wednesday the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the Ministry of Transport to establish a school specialized in the design, production, and maintenance of means of transportation and transportation facilities.

The duration of the protocol is five years, but it can be renewed. The plan is turning the railway educational institute, dubbed Al Werdan Institute, into an entity that produces engineers instead of technicians.

Further, curricula on transport technology will become more detailed at the schools of engineering at the universities of Cairo, Ain Shams, Helwan, and Benha. That is in addition to encouraging more research in that area of technology at different research centers.

The protocol also includes delivering training to the engineers and technicians working in the sectors of railways, tunnels, soil mechanics, hydropower systems, and seaport engineering among others.  

The Ministry of Transport announced on Saturday the receipt of all 22 trains to be operated on Eastern Cairo's LRT line extending between Salam City and the 10th of Ramadan City through the New Administrative Capital.

The pilot operation began in March, and the rail line is scheduled to enter operation officially this summer. The LRT is within the high-speed electric train project, which will transport passengers and cargo from Ain Sokhna in the east to Matrouh on the west, and between Cairo in the North and Aswan in the south.

Egypt has signed a contract – worth $227 million - with a Chinese company to supply 22 trains for the LRT, planned to transport 500,000 passengers per day.

The LRT will be operated by a French company for 15 years. Yet, it would not have the right to do ticket pricing. He elaborated that the project will serve various social segments, and that it will begin operation over phases. 

The other under-progress projects carried out by Egypt are the high-speed electric train, the monorail, and the fourth metro line located in Al Haram Street.