Minister of Transport Kamel el-Wazir said Saturday that the government had allocated LE225 billion (roughly $14.5 billion) for the upgrade of 10,000 kilometres of railways around the nation.
He added that an additional LE360 billion had been earmarked for the establishment of a high-speed electrical train over 1,800 kilometres of rails.
The upgrade of the railways network, the minister said, moves had in hand with the establishment of the electrical train.
He noted that LE73 billion of the aforementioned LE225 billion were allocated for the establishment of parallel rail lines to ones already present.
Wazir added that LE48 billion were allocated for the purchase of new train locomotives and carriages.
An additional LE23.5 billion were earmarked for the upgrade of train stations and crossing points.
We have also allocated LE46.8 billion for the modernisation of the railway’s signals, Minister el-Wazir said.
He added that an additional five billion pounds had been allotted for the training of railways workers.
The minister said the first phase of the upgrade of the railways was completed in June 2020.
This phase, he added, included bringing order back to the railways, cleaning the stations, beefing up security at the stations, and renewing the workshops of the Railways Authority, which operates the nation’s trains.
Minister el-Wazir noted that another phase of the upgrade would be completed in June 2022.
This phase, he said, would include receiving the new locomotives from production companies. It also includes receiving 110 new locomotives and the upgrade of 81 others, Wazir said.
He underlined the importance of maintaining the railways, especially the control systems in order to protect the lives of passengers.
The upgrade of these systems, he said, would ensure that such problems would not happen in the future.
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