Egypt's Cabinet approves contract with Siemens-led consortium to implement electric train

CAIRO – 23 June 2021: Egypt’s cabinet approved Wednesday the request of the National Authority for Tunnels to contract with a consortium of companies led by Siemens to start implementing the high-speed electric train “Ain Al-Sukhon - El Alamein.”

The consortium includes (German Siemens, Orascom Construction, and Arab Contractors). The project is about 660 km long, and the contract includes maintenance operations for a period of 15 years.

In previous statements, the Minister of Transport, Kamel Al-Wazir, said that the total lengths of the high-speed electric train network, which will be implemented by the German company Siemens in cooperation with a number of Egyptian companies, will reach 1,750 km.

The minister added that the high-speed electric train line from Ain Sukhna to El Alamein is 460 kilometers long, and costs an estimated $8.2 billion.

He pointed out that German Siemens would receive $3 billion, while the Egyptian executing companies would receive $5.2 billion.

The minister indicated that the amounts will be paid to Siemens after 6 years from the start of the project, and over a period of 20 years, adding that Egypt received 4 trains as a gift from the German company.

The first phase will link the city of El Alamein on the Mediterranean with Ain Sukhna on the Red Sea and will pass through the new administrative capital, and the new railway line will be able to transport goods.