Egypt to manufacture 1K railway wagons

CAIRO – 13 March 2021: The Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA) plans to purchase the largest number of goods wagons in its history, besides purchasing 100 tractors to strengthen t the authority's freight trains, according to a report issue by the Ministry of Transport on Saturday.

 

The authority plans to purchase 1,000 wagons of different models, the report said, noting that it is negotiating with the SEMAF factory of the Arab Organization for Industrialization, which affiliates with the Ministry of Military Production, to manufacture and supply the 1,000 freight cars, at a cost of more than LE 4 billion.

 

This deal is part of the state’s plan to expand the transportation of goods by trains, whether through the existing railway network or the express train lines network that the state is working to implement.

 

In January 2021, the ERA released a statement indicating the measures it has taken to raise the size of cargo transported through the railway network from 3.1 million tons in 2019 to 25 million tons in 2025.

 

General Electric (GE) will rehabilitate 81 train engines, while Egypt’s SEMAF Factory will supply 140 goods wagons at a cost of LE544 million. The factory will also supply 125 flatcars to transport containers from seaports to other destinations in the country.

 

The authority began transporting cargo between Ain Sokhna Port and Robeiky Textile Complex on the line extending between Suez governorate and Ain Shams neighborhood in Cairo. ERA also resumed transporting wheat from Port Said Port to silos after suspension for years.

 

Currently, double-stack container trains are being allocated to transport cargo from the seaports of Alexandria, Damietta, and Dekheila. Further, the authority has prepared a plan to renovate the line stretching from Abou Tartour in the Western Desert to Safaga in the Red Sea passing through Qena. The length of the line is 800 kilometers, and it is used in transporting phosphate, phosphoric acid, and cereals.

 

Another plan is set to develop the 60-kilometer line connecting Suez Port with Ain Sokhna Port passing through Adabeya Port on the Red Sea. That is to expand the line’s capacity.

 

 In a similar context, ERA has already begun establishing a line to transport cargo from Kafr Daoud to Sadat City. Both are located in Menoufeya, and the line extends over 35 kilometers.