Progress of the Egyptian new rail project
posted on 8th Nov 2025 16:44
Track work is progressing: the Egyptian high-speed rail project is making significant strides, starting with the first phase in Cairo. On the Green Line, which stretches over 660 km from Ain Sokhna via Cairo and Alexandria to Marsa Matrouh, local construction companies have built the track embankment and built stations and bridges. Key milestones also include the installation of the first substations for the electrified railway east and west of the Nile by Siemens Mobility and its local partners.
Soon, critical structural elements such as the bridge over the Nile south of Cairo and Egypt's highest bridge, spanning 550 m and rising 90 m over a desert valley south of Cairo, will be made accessible for track laying by the Consortium led by Siemens Mobility. Preparations for the start of track work and the construction of the electrical system are also underway in the northern part of Egypt along the Mediterranean coast.
Construction work is primarily focused on the large main depot (west of the Nile) and its connection to the main line of the Green Line. Extensive construction has been carried out at the depot, including 11 million m3 of excavation and 3.5 million m3 of backfill. Within this main depot area, located west of Cairo near the "October Garden" station, there is a stabling area with nine tracks, each approximately 670 m long, providing space for 11 Velaros, 26 Desiros, and 13 Vectrons.
The depot also features a large heavy maintenance workshop measuring 260 x 240 m, a central control room that monitors all three lines, and training facilities with driving simulators. Directly in front of the depot, the team is preparing a connection to the first 20 km of the electrified line, which is intended for dynamic testing of the first trains. While Siemens Mobility is responsible for the overall system design and integration, the electrical power supply system, signaling technology, train maintenance equipment, and automatic fare collection systems, local partners will install the tracks and line equipment.
As a second focus, construction companies are working on the sections east of the Nile, connecting the Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna with the capital region. Near the New Capital station (east of Cairo) is the first of six stabling facilities. Each, once completed, will have a capacity for up to six Velaro and twelve Desiro trains, as well as eight Vectron locomotives, on its eight tracks of approximately 200 m in length.
The stabling facility at New Capital station and the main depot will accommodate a portion of the total fleet of 176 trains, which are being manufactured and pre-tested at Siemens Mobility factories in Germany. Once logistical arrangements are complete, the trains will be delivered to Egypt, where commissioning and testing will continue, along with the corresponding infrastructure of the Egyptian high-speed rail system, under the leadership of Siemens Mobility
Siemens