Egyptian National Railways awards contact to Mermec to develop its railway signaling system

Mermec scores contract for Egypt railway link: Egyptian National Railways (ENR) has awarded Italy’s Mermec an EGP 130 mn contract to supply a European Train Control System (ETCS) for a portion of the railway line linking Sinai to the Suez Canal, according to a pressrelease. Mermec will work on the project alongside local contractor El Hazek Construction.

The specifics: The ETCS works will cover the 144 km Al-Fardan-Bir El-Abd/Balouza-East Port Said line, according to a statement from Egypt’s Transport Ministry. 100 km of the railway work has been completed between Al-Fardan and Bir al-Abd, with work still underway to complete the Balouza and East Port Said port to link East Port Said to the railway network.

What’s ETCS exactly? The Italian company will install a system to control the movement of trains along the line including a modern signaling system, a communications system, an electrical power system to feed signals, a 24-hour fault recording system, and a modern electronic system to operate 13 crossings with lights, bells, and automatic gates, the statement notes.