In pics: Egypt receives 3rd, 4th Talgo Spanish trains at Alexandria Port

CAIRO – 2 January 2023: Egypt’s Minister of Transport, Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir announced Monday, the arrival of the third and fourth Talgo Spanish trains to Alexandria Port.

 

The arrival of the two trains came as part of the contract concluded between the Ministry of Transport and the Spanish company Talgo to supply 7 new air-conditioned trains with a total value of € 157 million.

The rest of the trains are expected to arrive successively, within the framework of the comprehensive development plan of all elements of the railway system.

 

Al-Wazir confirmed that the two trains will be transferred to the Talgo workshops to be equipped and prepared with the knowledge of Spanish and Egyptian experts, engineers and technicians, to operate them experimentally without passengers in accordance with international safety standards, and then operate them with passengers on the planned date.

He pointed out that the first of these luxury trains has been already operated on the Cairo-Alexandria line, and preparations are under way for the trial operation without passengers of the second train.

 

The minister indicated that with the successive arrival of trains, a number of trains will be operated on the Cairo-Aswan line to serve the people of Upper Egypt during the coming period, in addition to operating a number of trains on the Cairo-Alexandria line.

Talgo trains are a huge quantum leap in the history of Egyptian railways, as they provide the highest levels of service to the public.

 

Last December, Chairman of the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) Mohamed Amer said the Spanish air-conditioned Talgo train is one of the world's best means of transport in terms of comfort and safety.

Speaking to ETC TV channel, he reiterated that the Talgo trains will reduce the time of Cairo-Alexandria journey to 80 minutes, while the tickets range between EGP150 and EGP200.

 

The trains are also equipped with seats for people with special needs and will be operated in Egypt as of November 2023 after finishing the current experimental operation.

Amer noted that the state spent EGP87 billion to upgrade railway system, praising great efforts exerted by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to develop this sector.

The operation of the new trains move comes as part of the political leadership's directives to upgrade railway mechanism, including carriages and human cadres, to ensure better services to citizens.