Certain railway equipment to be only produced locally instead of imported: Egyptian transport minister

CAIRO – 14 May 2024: Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir held Monday talks with the delegations of nine Austrian firms, in the presence of Ambassador Georg Stillfried, on possible cooperation in future projects.

The minister noted that certain railway equipment such as railroads, switchers, fasteners, and others would no longer be imported. Rather, they would be manufactured locally in collaboration with global firms. That strategy will apply to projects such as the high-speed electric train, fourth metro line in Greater Cairo, and Alexandria's metro and tramway. In addition, there is a goal to export to African and Middle Eastern states.

One of the companies represented in the meeting was Plasser & Theurer which supplied all the machinery used in maintaining the railroads and keys, established a subsidiary in Egypt, and recently won a tender to supply 14 machines as well as carry out maintenance and provide spare parts for five years. Further, the company's subsidiary in Egypt will team up with the Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA) to found a firm specialized in railroad maintenance and also maintain the equipment exported to regional countries.

Another company operating in Egypt is Voestalpine as it co-founded with ERA a plant to manufacture railway turnouts, and is in the process of producing the switches of the high-speed electric train given that the production lines are being upgraded and modernized.