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Egyptian National Railways signed four contracts worth EUR 690 mn (c. EGP 39.5 bn) with an Alstom-led consortium to modernize two of our most critical freight and logistics rail corridors, according to statements from the Transport Ministry and Alstom. The consortium, which includes local players Rowad Modern Engineering and Concrete Plus, will tackle the 6th of October-Alexandria corridor and the Belbes-10th of Ramadan line, securing around EUR 300 mn of the package for Alstom.
The breakdown: The 6th of October-Alexandria corridor comes in at EUR 550 mn of the package, including around EUR 240 mn earmarked for Alstom. Meanwhile, the Belbes-10th of Ramadan line is valued at EUR 140 mn, with Alstom taking EUR 60 mn. The upgrades include digital rail systems, ETCS Level 1 signaling, power infrastructure, and civil works, which Alstom says will cut full-route travel time on the 6th of October-Alexandria corridor by nearly 80 minutes. The contracts are expected to include around 50% local components.
The final price tag: The EUR 690 mn package closes the books on a financing trajectory we have tracked for months. The 6th of October-Alexandria bypass was originally anchored by a USD 400 mn (c. EUR 390.6 mn) World Bank facility approved in 2022, but by December 2025, the price tag had swelled to EUR 540 mn to absorb rising execution costs. Meanwhile, the 10th of Ramadan line was initially awarded in January for EUR 215 mn. The final signatures correct that earlier market intelligence.
Why it matters: Both lines are core pillars of the Transport Ministry’s expanded master plan to build eight integrated logistics corridors — an upgrade from previous plans for seven corridors. The upgraded Alexandria route will anchor at the new Bashteel station, weaving through the Sadat and 6th of October dry ports before terminating at the Alexandria Port, while the Belbes line will lay down 63 km of new track as part of the larger Sokhna-Alexandria logistic corridor. The goal is to shift freight from roads to rails and boost national rail freight capacity from 8 mn tons to 13 mn tons annually by 2030.
Train delays, again
Trial operations for the first line of Egypt’s high-speed electric rail network have been rescheduled to September or October, pushed back from the previous June timeline, Al Mal reports, citing Deputy Minister of Transport for Railway Transport Affairs Wagdy El Shahat. The trial runs will last for six months and cover the Ain Sokhna-Sixth of October segment of the mega-project.
IN CONTEXT- This is the latest in a string of delayed timelines for the flagship transit project. The government had initially targeted 2023 to launch the trial phase, before pushing it to the end of 2024 / early 2025, then pushing it again to November 2025. In December, the government moved the deadline to June and gave the project an EGP 2 bn financing push.
Why it matters:Revamping the national transport network to connect commercial hubs with seaports is projected to generate a substantial EGP 2.65 in economic returns for every EGP spent, El Shahat argues. However, chronic delays risk ballooning capital costs and eroding that potential return on investment.
