{"id":323173,"date":"2021-09-02T08:40:44","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T08:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egy-africa.com\/en\/?p=323173"},"modified":"2021-09-02T09:22:11","modified_gmt":"2021-09-02T09:22:11","slug":"egypt-signs-up-for-its-first-high-speed-electric-rail-with-siemens-led-alliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egy-africa.com\/en\/2021\/09\/02\/egypt-signs-up-for-its-first-high-speed-electric-rail-with-siemens-led-alliance\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt signs up for its first high-speed electric rail with Siemens-led alliance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Egypt has signed a 15-year contract worth $4.45 billion with a consortium led by German industrial group Siemens for a high-speed electric rail line to link its Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts.<\/p>\n

Siemens dubbed the project as a \u201cSuez Canal on rails\u201d.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The contract signed between Egypt\u2019s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) and a consortium including Siemens Mobility, Orascom Construction, and Arab Contractors will cover design, installation and maintenance of the 660-kilometre (410 miles) rail link, a Cabinet statement<\/a> read.<\/p>\n

Essam Wally, chairman of NAT, has signed the contract with Michael Peter. CEO of Siemens Mobility; along with L\u00e9on Soulier, CEO of Siemens Mobility Middle East and Africa; Sayed Farouk, CEO of the Arab Contractors; and Osama Bishai, CEO of Orascom Construction.<\/p>\n

The signing was witnessed by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir, and German Ambassador in Cairo Frank Hartmann.<\/p>\n

Suez Canal on rails<\/h2>\n

The rail link will include an electrified main line designed to carry more than 30 million passengers annually as well as a freight line, to run between the Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna and the Mediterranean ports of Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh.<\/p>\n

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The three models of Egypt\u2019s electric train network (Photo Credit: The Egyptian Cabinet)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

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Egyptian Transport Minister Kamel el-Wazir shows the three models of Egypt\u2019s electric train network to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and German Ambassador in Cairo Frank Hartmann (Photo Credit: The Egyptian Cabinet)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The network will eventually extend to 1,825 kilometres, according to the Cabinet statement.<\/p>\n

Ain Sokhna is a strategic port and industrial complex south of the Suez Canal, the quickest sea link between Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n

Madbouly emphasised on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi\u2019s interest in the project, which is considered a momentous leap in Egypt\u2019s transportation system.<\/p>\n

He described Siemens, which has implemented major electric power plants in the country in the last several years, as a \u201csuccessful partner\u201d for Egyptians in different sectors.<\/p>\n

The rail link would cut journey times by as much as half, Siemens CEO Roland Busch told journalists via video conference describing it as a \u201cSuez Canal on rails\u201d.<\/p>\n

Siemens\u2019 share of the contract is worth around $3 billion. Trains are set to be delivered by its Siemens Mobility unit by the end of 2023, with the order to be completed by 2027, the German group said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n