Egypt’s Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities and Transport ministries have extended the bid deadline by two weeks for the contract to build, finance and operate two monorail packages linking Cairo’s Nasr District to the New Cairo Capital and Giza to 6 October City.

The previous bid deadline was 15 October.

The prequalified teams include:

• Bombardier (Canada) / Orascom (local) / Arab Contractors (local)
• China Gezhouba Group (China) / China Railway Construction Corp (China) / Concord for Engineering & Construction (Egypt) / Samco (Egypt)
• China Railway (China) / Samcrete (local) / SNC Lavalin – Atkins (Canada) / Egyptian Railways Equipment (Semaf) (local)
• Chongqing International Construction / China Railway 11th Bureau Group (CRIIG) (all China)
• Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Italy) / Ansaldo (STS) – Hitachi (Italy/Japan) / Saipem (Italy)
• Scomi (Malaysia) / Arabtec (local) /Ministry of Military Production for Projects and Engineering (local) / Shaker Consultancy Group (local)

The Nasr District to New Cairo Capital monorail will be 52 kilometres, while the Giza to 6 October City monorail will be 35km.

The government plans to procure both projects using a combined engineering, procurement, construction and financing (EPC+F) model.

A consortium of Lebanon-based Khatib & Alami and Spanish firm Getinsa Ingenieria prepared the terms of reference for the contracts.

A consortium led by Canada’s Bombardier, and another team led by China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC), had previously submitted an offer for the Giza to 6 October City monorail system.

These monorail schemes are expected to help decongest roads and streets in Cairo, and provide connectivity between the new urban centres outside the capital - such as 6 October City and New Cairo Capital - to Cairo’s existent transport networks, as well as the airport.