CAIRO: Egypt signed a deal with German giant Siemens on Thursday to build a $23 billion high-speed rail line linking the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts.
The electric railway will run for more than 1,000 kilometers from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to New Alamein on the Mediterranean coast, passing through a new administrative capital being built east of Cairo.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi reviewed the final agreement with Siemens on the project, which is expected to start immediately.
Work to build the 15 stations included in the project is expected to be completed within two years.
The announcement of the express rail link came after El-Sisi met with Joe Kaiser, president and CEO of Siemens, and Roland Bush, the company’s executive vice president, together with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Transport Minister Kamel El-Wazir.
El-Sisi said that the new electric line “will represent a significant addition to the country’s transport network in terms of trade and passenger transport.”
El-Wazir said that the project will link the new administrative capital and new cities, carrying passengers and goods through a “fast, modern and safe means of transport.”
Soil research, surveying and route planning has been completed, and work is underway building bridges and the track, he added.
