Egypt’s Minister of Transport Kamel el-Wazir on Sunday followed up progress on the electric express train project in the New Administrative Capital (NAC).
The first section of the 660-kilometre line linking Ain Sokhna, el-Alamein, Matrouh and Fayoum will officially open on 7 November, ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Ministry of Transport said in a statement.
El-Wazir inspected the NAC station, which will be an interchange with the electric light rail transit (LRT).
The station, described by El-Wazir as one of the largest in the Middle East, will have car parks and retail outlets and serve the New Capital and its Sports City, and all new cities in east of Cairo, the minister said.
The minister also inspected Mohamed Naguib station on the first route to Katameya, New Cairo and the new urban areas south of the Ain Sokhna Road.
The minister said the German company Siemens will install signaling and electricity sub-stations on first 40 kilometres of the line.
In May, Egypt signed a contract Siemens to build a 2,000-kilometre high-speed rail network a total cost of LE360 billion ($23 billion).
In August, the Ministry of Transport, represented by the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), signed a preliminary agreement with a consortium of German railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the Egyptian private-sector company El-Sewedi Electric on the management and operation of the new network.
The network will connect 60 cities nationwide with trains that can operate at up to 230 km/h.
The second line will extend 1,100 kilometres, linking Cairo in the north with Abu Simbel in the south. The third line will connect Luxor in Upper Egypt with Hurghada on the Red Sea.
The project will be the sixth largest of its kind in the world, according to the German train manufacturer.
The eco-friendly project is part of the country’s efforts to go green in order to mitigate the negative repercussions of climate change on human life.
