Egypt signs MOU with Siemens for building $23 bln high-speed electric train line

Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s Siemens on Thursday for construction of a $23 billion high-speed electric train line linking Egypt’s eastern and northern coasts, the cabinet said in a statement.

The electric rail line would run 1,000 km from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to New Alamein on the Mediterranean coast, passing through a new capital under construction in the desert east of Cairo.

Work would start immediately on an initial 460-km section running from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to New Alamein on the Mediterranean coast, passing through a new capital under construction in the desert east of Cairo, according to a statement on the Facebook page of the presidency spokesman.

The initial section would include 15 stations and be completed in two years, said the statement, published after a meeting between President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Siemens President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Kaeser.

Siemens built three 4.8 gigawatt electricity plants in Egypt beginning in 2015 at a total cost of $7 billion. Each of the three gas-powered plants was billed at the time as the biggest in the world.