Over the past 12 years, Egypt has expanded its infrastructure network, building new roads, bridges, transport corridors and tunnels while upgrading existing routes.
The country has also advanced major public transport projects, including the monorail and electric train, alongside the development of new cities, such as the New Capital, New Alamein and New Mansoura.
These projects aim to improve links between production facilities and urban areas, while easing pressure on established cities.
According to Ministry of Transport data, the total cost of the comprehensive plan to develop Egypt’s transport system had reached around EGP 2 trillion, of which roughly EGP530 billion was for roads and bridges.
Roads, bridges
Egypt’s National Roads Project (NRP) has seen extensive work to upgrade the road network. About 6,600 kilometres of new roads have been completed out of a planned 7,500 kilometres, alongside renovating 8,700 kilometres of the existing main road network out of a total of 10,000 kilometres.
Key new road projects include the 400-kilometre Regional Ring Road, the 156-kilometere Middle Ring Road, the 117-kilometre Galala Plateau Road, the 275-kilometre Dakhla–Sharq El Owainat Road, the 359-kilometre Toshka–Sharq El Owainat Road, the 90-kilometre Siwa–Jaghbub Road, and the 158-kilometre Beni Suef–Zafarana Road.
The state has also built and upgraded 5,000 kilometres of roads and bridges in Sinai and the Suez Canal cities since 2014 and has expanded housing and public services.
The projects include five tunnels beneath the Suez Canal, linking Sinai with the Canal cities, alongside seven floating bridges across the waterway.
Work is underway on the 660-kilometre Ain Sokhna–Alamein–Marsa Matrouh high-speed electric railway and the 500-kilometre El-Ferdan–East Port Said–Bir Al-Abd–Arish–Taba railway.
BRT
As part of the effort to upgrade the mass transit system, the first phase of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project on the Ring Road, comprising 16 stations, has been completed, with passenger operations commencing in June 2025.
Additionally, a second phase featuring 16 stations has been executed to serve the section between the Golf Tunnel and the Cairo-Fayoum Desert Road, while planning is currently underway for a third phase, also including 16 stations.
Railway system
The Ministry of Transport has drawn up a comprehensive plan to modernise Egypt’s railway network. It is centred on six axes: rolling stock, infrastructure, signalling and control systems, maintenance workshops, staff training, and administrative and financial restructuring.
The plan aims to increase passenger capacity from around 700,000 a day in 2014 to two million by 2030. It also targets an increase in annual freight capacity from 4.5 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes over the same period.
Under the rolling stock programme, 210 new locomotives have been procured and 107 overhauled. Six luxury Talgo trains and 1,067 new passenger coaches have been delivered under a contract for 1,350 coaches. The refurbishment of 1,404 Tahya Misr passenger coaches has also been completed.
The Ministry of Transport has also received 609 freight wagons under a contract for 1,215, while 5,000 existing wagons have been rehabilitated. Procurement of seven new luxury sleeper trains and refurbishment of the existing fleet are under way.
Infrastructure upgrades have been completed at 367 of the railway network’s 709 stations. These include the new Upper Egypt railway station in Bashtil, which occupies an area four times the size of Ramses Station at the centre of Cairo.
Electronic gates, ticket-booking systems and digital payment services have also been introduced at several major railway stations, with plans to extend them to more locations.
Railway lines spanning a total of 1,634 kilometres have been renovated, alongside the modernisation of level crossings, with comprehensive upgrades completed for 822 of them.
LRT
Egypt has expanded its electric transport network in recent years, opening the first two phases of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. The 70-kilometre line connects Adly Mansour, 10th of Ramadan City and the New Capital.
Adly Mansour Central Station has also opened, linking six modes of transport and improving connections across the public transport network.
Metro
Cairo Metro Line 3, stretching 41.2 kilometres across four phases, is fully operational. Work continues on its fifth phase, which will extend the line to Cairo International Airport.
Cairo Metro Line 4’s first phase is scheduled to open in the first half of 2028, with construction advancing across its 19-kilometre route and 17 stations.
They include 16 underground and one surface-level station. The route begins west of the Ring Road at the 6th of October border, passing the Grand Egyptian Museum, Remaya Square, and Haram Street. It intersects with Metro Line 2 at Giza Station and Line 1 at El-Malek El-Saleh before ending at Fustat.
The government is studying three further phases for Line 4: Phase 2 from Fustat to New Cairo, Phase 3 from Hadaeq El Ashgar to Hosary Square, and Phase 4 from New Cairo to the Capital Airport.
Monorail
The East Nile Monorail was officially inaugurated by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi last March, and commenced public passenger operations.
The East Nile Monorail project extends for 56.5 kilometres covering the distance from Cairo Stadium Station in Nasr City to the Control and Operations Centre in the New Capital.
The monorail project has created around 15,000 direct jobs in civil, electrical, and mechanical work. It has also created about 10,000 indirect jobs in related industries and services.
The East Nile Monorail integrates with Metro Line 3 at Cairo Stadium Station in Nasr City and the LRT at the Arts and Culture City Station in the New Capital.
In the future, it will integrate with the second phase of Metro Line 4 at Hesham Barakat Station in Nasr City and with Metro Line 6 at Al-Narges Station in New Cairo.
The project includes 40 trains operating at 80 km/h. Each train consists of four cars to serve urban expansion and increasing daily demand in the New Capital.
The two monorail lines (East and West Nile) extend for 100 kilometres and include 35 stations each with two levels (ticket hall and platform).
Once completed, the system will transport 500,000 passengers per day.
Meanwhile, Egypt is developing a 2,000-kilometre high-speed electric rail network with 60 stations across three lines: Sokhna–Alamein–Matrouh; October–Aswan–Abu Simbel; and Qena–Hurghada–Safaga.
New cities
Egypt has also expanded its new cities to alleviate overpopulation in the Nile Valley, modernise infrastructure, and build smart, sustainable urban centres.
The New Capital is one of the country’s major urban projects. It is designed to house key government offices and administrative, commercial and residential districts, supported by road networks, utilities and telecommunications infrastructure. Its long-term success will depend on its ability to attract residents, businesses and investment.
The New Capital is a fourth-generation city located around 60 kilometres east of Cairo and is managed by the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD).
Covering a total area of around 170,000 feddans, the city is almost four times the size of Washington D.C. and larger than some entire countries.
The New Capital hosts Egypt’s main government institutions, foreign embassies, and parliament buildings, alongside a central business district, major residential neighbourhoods, universities, and landmark cultural and religious sites, such as Misr Mosque, Al-Fattah Al-Aleem Mosque and the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ.
It is planned to accommodate up to 10 million residents, making it one of the largest urban development projects in the region.
On the North Coast, New Alamein City is a major urban development along the Mediterranean. It stretches for around 48 kilometres along the International Coastal Road. The city is designed to operate year-round, with residential, tourism, educational, commercial and service facilities.
New Mansoura has created a modern urban community in the Delta, offering housing, utilities, public services and recreational spaces.
Other new cities include New October, Hadayek October, East Port Said, New Ismailia, Nasser City in West Assiut, West Qena and West Aswan.
Egypt has developed 39 new cities over the past few years as part of its urban expansion strategy within Vision 2030.
