The purchase of 1,300 new locomotives for the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) is expected to cost EGP 19 bn, Transport Minister Hisham Arafat told reporters yesterday, according to Al Shorouk. Arafat had said back in November — when the tender had been for 1,000 cars — that the locomotives would cost c. EGP 16 bn. The Transport Ministry has assessed three out of seven offers on the table for the supply contract and expects to announce its final decision in one month. The minister had said earlier this month that the ENR received 13 bids in the tender.