Track enroute for Egypt’s Green Line: UK steel products producer BritishSteel will supply 9.5k tonnes of track for Egypt’s electrified mainline and freight GreenLine under a multi-mn GBP contract, according to a statement.

What we know: The rail shipments will reach the Port of Alexandria this month and in June and will be used to extend the line from Alexandria through Alamein to the Mediterranean coast and to the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea. The network will span 660 km long and will carry trains for goods and passengers that can travel at a maximum speed of 250 km per hour.

Whose involved? Orascom Construction will manage the project, while Arab Contractors Joint Venture will oversee the design, construction, commissioning, and operation, while Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) will handle the line, according to the statement.

This is just the first leg of a USD 23 bn project that will stretch for some 1.8k km across Egypt, linking Cairo, Aswan, the North Coast and the Red Sea. The Sokhna-Matrouh connection will feature a passenger line able to carry more than 30 mn people a year as well as a freight line that the German conglomerate referred to as a “Suez Canal on tracks.” The passenger trains will travel at up to 250 km/hour, reducing travel time by up to 50%. This is at least double the speed of the current network, which offers speeds of between 90 and 120km/hour.

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