Egypt’s plan to have first electric train has moved a notch higher after an agreement was signed to provide a facilitated loan of $1.2bn for the implementation of the project.
The Chairperson of the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), Ahmed Fouda, and the Vice Chairperson of the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank), Chi Ping signed the agreement that will pave way for construction work to start.
The new railway will link the 10th of Ramadan City on the outskirts of Cairo to the New Administrative Capital. It will target the new cities of El Salam, El Obour, El Shorouk, Al Mostakbal, Al Roubiki, and the New Administrative Capital.
The bank has agreed on a loan of $1.2bn, of which $739m with 1.8% interest rate are for infrastructure and $461m with 2% interest rate are for the trains, to be paid over 15 years with a 5-year grace period. The minister pointed out that the loan agreement was signed in September 2018 during the visit of President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi to China.
Speed of the train will reach 120km/h, and the length of the railway is 67.8km, including 60km of flat area, 7.5km of bridges, and 0.3km of tunnels. The new railway will start from Adly Mansour exchange station that intersects with the Metro Line 3, crossing all the way through the Cairo-Ismailia desert road to Al Rubiki city.
There, it will branch into two parts; One will head North alongside the regional ring road, serving the 10thof Ramadan City, and the other will head south from Al Rubiki station to the New Capital.
In the second phase, the line is planned to extend to the Sports City at the intersection of Ain Sukhna road with the regional ring road, making the line’s length 93km.