Infrastructure

Egypt to Build $4.5 billion, 1,800km High-Speed Railway

The railway will link the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts.

Updated on

October 26, 2021

egypt high-speed railway — An impression of trains and the proposed railway map. PHOTO | Siemens AG

Egypt is set to undertake its first high-speed rail project, which will deliver a 1,800km rail network connecting Cairo to the New Administrative Capital and surrounding new cities.

The National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) has already signed a deal with a consortium that includes Germany’s Siemens Mobility and Egyptian firms Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors to undertake phase one of the project.

The deal will cover an initial 660km railway linking the port cities of Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Marsa Matrouh and Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast.

The line, which will be ready by 2023, is designed to carry up to 30 million people per year, saving up to 50% travel time and cutting emissions by 70%, compared to road transport.

Suez Canal on tracks

Siemens Mobility, which nicknamed the Egypt high-speed rail project a “Suez Canal on tracks”, is expected to receive the lion’s share of the $4.45 billion contract – about $3 billion.

The company will finalise deals for phases two and three of the railway by the end of December after financial closing, according to Leon Soulier – its CEO for the Middle East and Africa.

“The idea is that we would still close both contracts within this calendar year, subject to financial close, because not only are we doing the construction, supply, and maintenance, we are also providing a financing package,” he said.

The project financing will be based on engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis. The consortium will help structure and arrange the financing on behalf of the client.

Siemens will provide the core technologies -high-speed trains, and railway infrastructure – while Orascom and Arab Contractors will carry out the track-laying works for the line.

Egypt is undertaking the high-speed rail project as part of wider plans to upgrade its congested transport network, protect the environment, create jobs and grow its economy.

“Completion should be somewhere around 2027,” said Siemens Mobility’s chief executive Michael Peter. “We have good experience in executing these types of mega projects.”