Egypt to choose supplier of 1,300 rail carriages by end of May

CAIRO – 22 May 2018: As part of development plan of railway in Egypt, the Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA) announced on Monday that it will choose between two international bids for the manufacture and supply of 1,300 rail carriages, with investments of LE19-20 billion, before the end of May.

The ERA has issued an international tender in November 2017 to choose a company or alliance that will manufacture and supply new rail carriages with the aim to support and develop both passengers and goods transportation.

Egypt is seeking to upgrade the infrastructure of railways; hence, the government has stepped up several railway investments to improve its safety. Around 10 international bids were presented to win this tender, including companies from Russia, Hungary, China, Italy and Spain. Only two bids, Russian-Hungarian and Chinese, have fitted the conditions of the tender. The carriages should be delivered 40 months after signing the contract.

In August 2017, Egypt signed a $575 million agreement with American company General Electric Co to provide 100 new multi-use locomotives, 15 year technical support and spare parts, and to maintain and upgrade 81 trains bought by Egyptian railways in 2008 as part of the plan to use railways to transport 25 million goods by 2022.

Minister of Transport, Hesham Arafat, said in a previous statement that Egypt plans to invest a total of $3.1 billion for the revamp of its national railway network over the next five years, which will include the addition of 1,000 new train carriages.

Arafat pointed out that Egypt has a clear and comprehensive plan to develop all aspects of the country’s railway system, including infrastructure, tractors, train carriages and signals.