Arab Finance: Four global and local alliances have submitted their financial and technical bids to the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) for a $285 million renovation project of the 69-kilometer Al-Rubiki-10th of Ramadan-Belbeis railway line, three unnamed government sources told Asharq Business.
The first alliance includes France's Alstom, Concrete Plus, and Egypt’s Rowad Modern Engineering.
The second alliance features Dhaka Group from Bangladesh, while the third combines Spain’s GTS, part of CBS Group, and Egypt's Orascom Construction.
The fourth alliance brings together France's Hitachi, Italy’s Mermec and Salcef, and Egypt’s El-Hazek.
The project is expected to be financed through $220 million in soft loans from the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with the remaining funding of over EGP 3 billion coming from local sources.
The project is slated for completion within a three-year period from contract signing.
The line marks the second among seven logistical corridors the Ministry of Transport seeks to carry out within the next five years to connect seaports along the Mediterranean and Red Seas with dry ports, shifting freight transport from trucks to trains.