IRJ at InnoTrans 2024: EGYPT’s deputy prime minister, Mr Kamel Al-Wazir, was the guest of honour during the presentation of the first Velaro high-speed train for Egypt. Built by Siemens Mobility, three cars of the eight-car train, the first of 41 for the 2000km high-speed network under construction in Egypt, are on display at the outside track area.

Al-Wazir was joined by members of an Egyptian delegation including chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels, Dr-Eng Tarek Hamed Gewaily, and Mr Osama Bishai, CEO of Orascom, one of the key local contractors. Also onboard the train was Germany’s federal transport minister, Dr Volking Wissing, while Siemens was represented by Mobility CEO, Mr Michael Peter, and group CEO, Dr Roland Busch, who said the “government to government” project was a “poster child” for the company and that he wished “there were more” projects of this scale.

Germany is co-financing the construction of the high-speed network and Wissing praised the close collaboration between the two countries on the project where construction is making encouraging progress on the 680km Green Line.

The Velaro high-speed train was manufactured at Siemens’ Krefeld plant and testing has been taking place at the manufacturer’s Wildenrath test circuit. It is hoped that it will be shipped to Egypt in the coming months with delivery held back in order to show the train at this week’s trade fair. Siemens says another four Velaro high-speed trains have been manufactured and tested along with five four-car Desiro EMUs. Five Vectron locomotives that will be used for freight services on the network are undergoing commissioning while a further 16 Desiro trains are in various stages of pre-assembly.

The first Desiro EMU was shipped to Egypt in autumn 2023 and has been undergoing static testing close to the New Administrative Capital station construction site where the first sections of track have also been laid. It is hoped that dynamic testing of the train will begin early next year, a key milestone for the project.

Construction

Siemens also provided an update on the project where work is underway on track, stations and bridges by local contractors on the Green Line, which runs from Ain Sokhna to Marsa Matrouh via Cairo. Construction is also progressing on the first of six stabling facilities at the New Capital station. Each will have eight 200m-long tracks and have capacity for three Velaro and seven Desiro trains. Work is similarly progressing on the main depot, which is located west of the Nile, which will accommodate 11 Velaros, 15 Desiros, and 13 Vectrons. The depot also features a maintenance workshop, a central control room overseeing all three lines, and training facilities equipped with driving simulators.

IRJ's editor-in-chief was one of the first journalists to report from the construction sites of the Egyptian high-speed project. Read his report from the April 2024 edition of IRJ here.