CAIRO – The Transport Ministry has reached an agreement about technical and financial aspects of an express electric train project that should be implemented in co-operation with Germany’s Siemens Co.
Transport Minister Kamel el-Wazir and Siemens CEO Ronald Busch talked the specifics of the second and third phases of the project earlier Thursday and agreed to sign two contracts in March.
This deal follows directives by the political leadership in Egypt to expand the green transport network, which is environment-friendly, said Wazir in a statement.
The plan is to establish a grid of express trains with three major lines extending along 1,730 kilometers across Egypt, the minister explained. He made it clear that this goes hand in hand with efforts to upgrade the current railway network, which runs over 10,000 kilometers.
The express electric train system should help achieve a quantum leap in transport services all over Egypt, Wazir noted.
Express electric trains are meant to serve new urban and industrial areas, the minister said, adding that this system would also contribute to reducing journeys among the different governorates by more than half their current time.
