18 Transmashholding 3rd-class dynamic-ventilation railcars delivered to Egypt

CAIRO – 21 October 2020: A batch of Transmashholding railcars arrived to the Port of Alexandria on Wednesday. The shipment consists of 18 third-class dynamic-ventilation railcars raising the figure of delivered units of that type to 103.

The Egyptian Railway Authority receives monthly 35 Transmashholding railcars, and enters three trains service.

In July 2019, ERA endorsed the technical specifications of two passenger railcars that were supposed to be supplied by Transmashholding in September of the same year. One would be tested in Hungary, so it would be granted the safety certification by the European Railway Agency. The other is tested in Egypt.
 

The contract states that 650 railcars will be supplied from Hungary, 500 will be delivered by Russia, and 150 will be manufactured by Egypt under the supervision of Transmashholding. An Egyptian locomotive factory will be established as part of a plan to localize the locomotive industry in Egypt and transfer the know-how to workers, technicians, and engineers in the sector. The factory will produce 150 railcars and also provide maintenance services.
 

The contract consists of 500 third-class air-conditioned railcars, 180 second-class air-conditioned railcars, 90 first-class air-conditioned railcars, 500 third-class dynamic-ventilation railcars, and 30 air-conditioned cabooses.

The contract is funded by a soft loan worth €1.02 billion granted by Hungarian Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and State Specialized Russian Export- Import Bank (Eximbank of Russia). The 1,300 railcars shall be delivered over batches within 40 months by the end of 2021 once the loan procedures were finalized in December 2019.

Sources at the Ministry of Transportation told Egypt Today that the delivery of the first batch of Russian railcars contracted for with Transmashholding got delayed to March instead of the end of 2019 as the loan procedures had been finalized in December 2019.
 

Nevertheless, the number of railcars in the first batch doubled to become 60 including the model railcar that was tested on Egyptian railways. Also, the total number of railcars delivered by June had to be 180. Yet, the delivery timeline has been changed due to COVID-19 outbreak.