Egyptian National Railways (ENR) has awarded the final contract for the supply of 100 new trains for Egypt’s mainline rail network to US-based GE.
The $575m contract also entails the supply of support, maintenance and spare parts for 81 old trains over a 15-year period.
The initial deal between ENR and GE was agreed in June last year.
A $300m loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which will cover part of the $575m deal, was also signed on the same month.
It is understood that an export credit agency has agreed to finance the remaining portion of the deal.
The deal with GE is in line with Egypt’s long overdue programme to reform its rail sector by increasing fleet availability and improving safety, operational efficiencies and reliability.
In November last year, ENR awarded Thales Espana Group, a division of France’s Thales, a $150m contract for the modernisation of the signalling and telecoms systems of the 180km railway line that connects Assiut and Nagh Hammadi.
The line is a section within the railway route that links Alexandria, Cairo and Aswan. The contract, which is to be executed over a three-year period, will be funded by the World Bank.
In August last year, a train from Cairo travelling to Alexandria rammed into a stationary train en route to Alexandria from Port Said. The accident, which killed more than 40 people and injured over 100, resulted in the resignation of Medhat Shousha, head of ENR.
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