The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will provide Egypt with EUR 318 mn in financing for the 660-km first phase of the Sokhna-Alexandria high-speed rail line, after the bank’s board approved the move during its meeting yesterday, according to an IsDB press release. Details about the terms of the financing have not been disclosed.

European bank financing in the pipeline: Egypt’s cabinet said last week that it had approved international funding from European banks for the high-speed rail link, without giving further info. The entire project is set to cost some USD 23 bn.

High-speed rail: Siemens Mobility, Orascom Construction, and Arab Contractors have signed contracts with the Egyptian government to build the country’s new 2k-km high-speed rail line. The first phase will link Ain Sokhna to Marsa Matrouh, while additional lines will join Cairo to Hurghada as well as to Abu Simbel near the country’s southern border. Deutsche Bahn and El Sewedy Electric are on board to operate the first line under a EUR 1 bn+ contract signed last year. The project, according to government officials, is set to be the sixth-longest rail network in the world, connecting 60 Egyptian cities with trains running at up to 230 km/h.

Work is starting soon: French construction firm NGE and its subsidiary TSO should begin laying the first half of track for the rail’s first phase “in early 2023.”

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