Egypt’s high-speed rail project has chosen British Steel to supply the track for a section of the line connecting Alexandria to the Mediterranean coast, the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea.
The multi-million-pound contract will see the Scunthorpe-based company deliver 9,500t of track to the port of Alexandria for the 660km section of the network, which will carry passengers and freight trains up to 250kmph as the country’s first fully electrified mainline and freight network.
Jérôme Bonef, British Steel’s commercial manager of rail exports, said: “We are delighted British Steel has been awarded this contract and to be involved in such a transformational project for Egypt, which will bring significant improvements to the transport network.
“The British Steel rail business prides itself on providing value solutions to our customers, being easy to trade with whilst providing on-time deliveries with world-leading quality.”
The line is being built by a joint venture from Orascum Construction and Arab Contractors, while the design, commissioning and operation will be handled by the country’s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT).
According to British Steel, it will deliver two shipments of its 60E1 rail, in grade R260, to the Port of Alexandria in April and June 2024 which will be used to extend the line from Alexandria via El Alamein to the Mediterranean coast in north-west Egypt and Suez and the Red Sea in the east.
The 660km line is part of a wider project to bring high-speed rail to Egypt and is being built alongside a 1,100km line between Cairo and Abu Simbel, and a 225km link between Luxor and Hurghada, with Siemens Mobility also involved in construction.
According to NAT, the first section of the project will run between Ain Sokhna in the east and Marsa Matrouh in the north, via El Alamein.
British Steel is owned by China's Jingye Group, and is unrelated to the nationalised British Steel Corporation. Scunthorpe's steelworks have been owned by various firms since the blast furnaces in the town were consolidated in 1912.
