Egypt high-speed rail to connect Red Sea, Mediterranean

EL Amaim: Workers have started laying tracks in the desert east of Cairo for Egypt s first high speed train, which will link the Red Sea and the Medit...

EL-Amaim: Workers have started laying tracks in the desert east of Cairo for Egypt’s first high-speed train, which will link the Red Sea and the Mediterranean in the latest attempt to modernise transport in the vast country.

Described by transport minister Kamel Al-Wazir as a “new Suez Canal on rails”, the project is slated to be completed in 2028, and will carry passengers and cargo the 660km distance in as little as three hours.

The Green Line, as it is known, is the latest of a long list of megaprojects undertaken by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s government in the past decade — the crowning jewel of which is a still sparsely populated $58bn New Administrative Capital east of Cairo.

In 2021, Egypt signed a $4.5bn contract with a consortium that includes German company Siemens to establish the Green Line, which will form the first of three high-speed tracks across the country.

Authorities hope the nearly 2,000km-network will carry 1.5 million passengers per day.