Egypt signs $656M agreement to manufacture, supply 320 subway vehicles

CAIRO - 24 August 2022: The National Authority for Tunnels signed a contract with a consortium of companies including South Korean Hyundai Rotem and the National Egyptian Railway Industries Company (NERIC) to manufacture and supply 40 new trains, including 320 vehicles, for the second and third lines of the metro, with a localization rate of no less than 30 percent.

 

The contract value is $656 million and includes two years warranty, in addition to maintenance work for a period of eight years in addition to a massive one-time overhaul for each train.

 

“Contracting an agreement to manufacture and supply 40 new trains, including 320 cars, represents the first step in realizing the dream of Egypt being one of the major industrial countries in this field,” Kamel Al-Wazir, Minister of Transport, said in the statement.

 

The contract aims to transfer advanced technology in the train industry, and open new horizons to increase national income by exporting to various countries of the world, especially Africa, according to the statement.

 

Wazir added that the contract will provide all the needs of the huge national projects implemented by the state in the field of subway projects and electrical traction, to provide the hard currency that the state used to import these trains, and will also contribute to providing job opportunities for young people.

 

The project is located on an area of ​​about 300,000 square meters in the industrial zone in East Port Said, and the integration between the industrial zone and the port is one of the foundations supporting the success of the project, as are all industries that benefit from the economic zone in import and export operations through the integration between its industrial areas and its affiliated ports.

 

Egypt is working to expand the fleet of trains operating on the second line, as well as the third metro line, in order to accommodate the increase in transport volumes. The second and third lines, after completion, are scheduled to transport about 3 million passengers per day.

 

Egypt has previously signed a cooperation protocol to study the establishment of an Egyptian factory for the manufacture of passenger railway cars, between the Egyptian National Railways Authority, the Spanish company “Talgo” and the National Egyptian Railway Industries Company (NERIC), with the aim of localizing the railway industry in Egypt. 

 

The protocol included the manufacture of 500 different railway passenger cars, including 100 air-conditioned first-class cars, 200 air-conditioned second-class cars, and 200 other advanced third-class cars using global “Talgo” technology as a first stage out of a total of 1,000 railway cars planned to be manufactured locally.