Minister: High-Speed rail marks turning point in Egypt’s passenger, freight transport

The project aims to interconnect all Egyptian seaports, link industrial zones as key production centers to export ports, and integrate modern agricultural development areas with consumption hubs and global markets.

The network serves major agricultural regions, including the New Delta, West Minya, Toshka, and Future of Egypt, creating a fully integrated transport system that supports the national economy.

Connecting the Red Sea to the Nile Delta

El-Wazir explained that, for the first time in Egypt’s history, the high-speed electric train will connect Red Sea coastal cities with the Nile Delta. The network will also extend for the first time to East Oweinat and Toshka in the far south, while linking all Nile River crossings between the eastern and western banks.

The minister highlighted the project’s major tourism significance, noting that it will connect diverse tourist destinations and allow visitors to experience multiple forms of tourism within a single journey. The network will link diving and beach tourism in Hurghada with cultural tourism at the Giza Pyramids, Abydos in Sohag, Luxor, Aswan, and Abu Simbel, as well as religious tourism at the Monastery of the Virgin Mary in Asyut.

Lieutenant General El-Wazir stated that the project seeks to establish a global logistics hub linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, fully integrated with airports, seaports, and land routes to support the concept of multimodal transport.

The network is expected to connect seaports, dry ports, and logistics centers, while advancing sustainable urban development, population redistribution, and the creation of new development corridors, according to the minister.

In addition, the rail network will link raw material production areas and quarries in Abu Tartour, Qena, and Aswan with export ports. The minister noted that the routes of the network’s first and second lines align precisely with the development corridor vision proposed by the late Egyptian scientist Farouk El-Baz.

About the Network

El-Wazir added that the high-speed electric rail network currently spans 2,000 kilometers, with plans to expand to 2,250 kilometers following the construction of a fourth line connecting Port Said and Alexandria.

The network boasts significant operational capacity, transporting up to 2 million passengers annually, which is double the capacity of Egypt’s existing 10,000-kilometer conventional railway network, which carries approximately 1 million passengers per year.

He further emphasized the network’s role in transforming freight transport. While the current railway system carries 4–5 million tons of goods annually, the high-speed electric rail network is expected to transport up to 13 million tons per year.

The minister concluded by underscoring the strategic importance of the project for regional rail connectivity, particularly with neighboring countries such as Sudan and Libya.