From very olden times till the ancient world, people had their physical feet and legs as the only means of moving from one place to another; and consequently could carry only the errands put on shoulders or heads or those they could push by their feet. In the later ancient world, humans developed the boats, the cycle and the chariot. Still, the mileages they could travel and the weights they could carry with them depended mainly on the physical ability of the cart-pulling horses and the muscular fitness of seafarers and river sailors. The first ever evolution of great qualitative significance to transportation as a basic human activity took place with the invention of the steam engine and the ensuing design of the internal combustion engine. That evolution meant that humans could for the first time ever travel distances much longer than those they could by means of their own individual bodily capabilities. The evolution was catapulted to new highs with the invention of electricity and later the design and operation of the turbo-propelled flying machine and is now being credited with having even contributing to the start of space exploration. Machining the means of transport was indeed a quality leap in the capability of humans to move and ship goods between one place and another. Since then, the evolution has been both rapid and far-reaching in economic, social and cultural implications – so much so that transportation has now established itself as a very basic component of the national infrastructure of each and every country worldwide and also a reflection of the extent of urban advancement.
Egypt’s experience in developing and modernising the transportation sector over the past few years has noticeably been characterised by both comprehensiveness and keenness on observing the highest technical standards in planning and implementation. Solid evidence of this characteristic can be seen in the meticulous drive to build an efficient network of main and axial roads, bridges and flyovers that considerably shorten the time and effort needed for people to move and for goods to be transported. The chain of flyovers that has been constructed in eastern Cairo in record time is one case in point. Simultaneously, the country’s rail system is undergoing major upgrading; and new locomotives and train carriages can now be seen moving people and shipments between destinations up and down more than 1000-kilometer-long rail system. At the same time, a national initiative has been launched to replace old passenger vehicles by new one and to encourage and spread the use of natural gas as car fuel, together with an ambitious state plan to localise the electric car-making industry. An insight into these few examples of the intensive effort now under way to modernise and beef up the country’s transportation sector of the infrastructure indicates that due and marked attention is being paid to safety, comfort and the utilisation of high-tech – certainly three essential factors in upgrading and modernisation.
Crowning this trend was the signing last week of a $3 billion-worth contract with Siemens Mobility for the construction of Egypt’s first high-speed and electric rail line. The signing of the contract marked the actual birth of yet one more giant project that represents the latest addition to the country’s massive drive for infrastructure modernisation. Connecting the country’s Mediterranean shores to the Red Sea coast for the first time ever in Egypt’s long history comes atop of the project’s worthiness. Of equal value is the project’s potential to launch a highly modern, fast, safe and integrated rail line of 660 kilometres in the first stage of a system of total of 1,800 kilometres. Additionally, the project is expected to create more than 15,000 local jobs. These are just few of the advantages that will turn the new project into a concrete illustration of the infrastructure modernisation with optimised utilisation of high-tech and advanced operational standards.
