Egypt's RFI-260 concrete flange factory starts pilot operation to cater to high-speed electric train

CAIRO – 12 July 2023: The Egyptian Company for Self-Maintenance for Roads and Airports announced Wednesday in a meeting with Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir that the pilot operation of the RFI-260 concrete flange factory had started.

The factory's cost is LE500 million, and is intended to cater to the high-speed electric train. It is noted that the company's profits jumped by 31 percent in FY2022/2023 recording LE172 million compared to the previous year, while the revenues hit LE1.3 billion.

To stop import in the future, Egypt is currently establishing seven factories operating in the locomotive industry in partnership with the private sector, Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir stated in a phone-in Sunday.

Wazir pointed out to the deal inked with Austria's Voestalpine Group in April to introduce a factory in Cairo's Abbseya for the production of railroad switch and lock keys at a factory.

Alstom

The Egyptian Cabinet approved in principle on July 6 an investment plan by French company Alstom to establish two factories in Alexandria, and that would create 1,200 job opportunities for Egyptian engineers and technicians.

One would be dedicated to the production of electrical systems and railway components such as signals, panels, electrical circuits for control, and electrical braids among others. The other would manufacture all types of mobile units of metro lines, trams, LRT, monorail, express trains and others.

Talgo

In March, Minister Wazir attended the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA) and Talgo for the company to build a factory in Egypt for the production of railcars. 

Minister Wazir stated that the plant would be built in Beni Suef's Kom Abou Rady on a surface area spanning over 20 feddans (one feddan equals 4,500 square meters) next to the railway workshops located there already. 

Each of the first and second phases consists of the manufacturing of 50 trains by Egyptian engineers and workers, but under the supervision of Spanish experts. Also, the local component is planned to be 45 percent. 

The minister added, during the phone-in, that two private companies would manage freight transport in Egypt to ensure efficiency and profitability, and that the Egyptian Railway Authority would acquire at least ten percent of revenues.