British Steel has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply 9,500 tonnes of rail Egypt’s Green rail line, country’s first fully electrified mainline and freight network which stretches from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
“We are delighted British Steel has been awarded this contract and to be involved in such a transformational project for Egypt, which will bring significant improvements to the transport network,” British Steel Commercial Manager Export – Rail, Jérôme Bonef said.
The rails will be produced at the Scunthorpe plant.
Two shipments of rail will be transported from British Steel to the north Egyptian port of Alexandria this month and in June. It will be used to extend the line from Alexandria via El Alamein to the Mediterranean coast in the north-west and eastwards to the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea.
The network is 660 km long and will carry trains both passengers and goods up to a maximum speed of 250 km/h (155mph) with British Steel among a number of key suppliers providing rail to the project. Rail supplied is 60E1 in grade R260, each at 18 metres in length.
The contract is part of the “Suez Canal on rails” project covering the construction of a 2,000 km rail network which will link 60 cities across Egypt.
In May 2023, the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) singed with a joint venture comprising Siemens Mobility, Orascom Construction and The Arab Contractors a EUR 8.1 billion framework agreement to build the new rail system which will allow trains to operate at up to 230 km/h. The network will enable around 500 million journeys a year.
Egypt’s Green rail line will revolutionise country’s transport system, with the construction of a high-speed network reducing primary energy usage and overall air pollution. The line will connect the port cities of Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Marsa Matrouh and Alexandria on the Mediterranean.
Under the global project, two other rail lines will be constructed. A 1,100 km line will run between Cairo and Abu Simbel near the Sudan border and another 225 km line will connect the world heritage archeological sites in Luxor with Hurghada by the Red Sea.
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