Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Egypt has reached an agreement with a Chinese consortium, including AVIC Intel and MBEC, to purchase eight new trains for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project at a total cost of $90 million, according to sources familiar with the deal.
The National Authority for Tunnels, under the Ministry of Transport, will receive the trains in stages next year, ahead of operations in the third and fourth phases of the LRT currently under construction. One of these phases is expected to open before the end of 2027.
This acquisition is part of a broader expansion of Egypt’s railway and electric transport infrastructure, which includes the LRT, high-speed rail networks, metro lines, and monorail projects. The aim is to better connect new urban communities with Cairo’s city center, enhance logistics corridors between ports and industrial zones, and reduce traffic congestion.
The LRT project, initiated in 2014, currently links central Cairo with eastern urban and industrial areas. Phases one and two, covering a total of 70 kilometers, were inaugurated in mid-2022 with a cost of approximately $1.2 billion, financed through concessional loans from the China Export-Import Bank.
The Ministry of Transport is now executing phases three and four, spanning a combined 36.4 kilometers—20.4 kilometers for phase three and 16 kilometers for phase four—supported by concessional Chinese loans totaling around $572 million.
Passenger fares on the LRT currently range from 10 Egyptian pounds for up to three stations, 15 pounds for up to seven stations, and 20 pounds for longer trips.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has emphasized Egypt’s significant investment in infrastructure over the past decade, noting that total spending on such projects has reached roughly 10 trillion Egyptian pounds since 2014.
The new train acquisition underscores Egypt’s ongoing commitment to modernizing its transport networks and promoting low-emission, efficient public transit solutions.
