Egypt will not interfere in the private sector’s decision regarding the price of the ticket.
The Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA) will allow the private sector to operate the Cairo-Alexandria railway line after modernizing the line’s signaling and updating it to an electronic system, according to Chairman of the Railways Authority, Sayed Salem.
This comes after the House of Representatives approved on May 4, 2018, the amendments that allows private-sector participation in developing, managing, and operating railway projects for no more than 15 years.
The amendments aim to rescue the vital railways sector that suffers from massive debt and outdated operation systems through allowing private investment to modernize the sector and get rid of its huge debts.
French Company Thales is implementing a EGP 310 million (EUR 70.5 million) project for the modernization of the signaling and telecommunications systems of the Cairo-Alexandria railway line.
The line runs 180 kilometers between the towns of Asiut, Qena and Nag Hammadi, located in the Upper Egypt region of the Alexandria–Cairo–Aswan rail corridor.
Modernising the signaling of the line between Arab El Raml and Alexandria, as well as Arab El Raml and Cairo on the Cairo – Alexandria main line is set to be finished in the first quarter of 2019 and by mid-2019, respectively.
The project is among Egyptian Railway Authority ‘s infrastructure transformation plan, promoted by the Ministry of Transport and financed by the World Bank. The project aims to improve traffic and allow trains to travel around the country at higher speeds.
Salem added that after implementing the modernization project, the private sector will be allowed to operate the line and the Authority will not interfere in the private sector’s decision regarding the price of the ticket.
The Egyptian Railway Authority is implementing four projects to re-signal the main line from Benha, on the Cairo – Alexandria main line, via Zagazig to Port Said, and from Zagazig to Abu Kebir in the northeast of the country.
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