British Steel wins major Egyptian railway contract

The UK company will supply rails to Egypt's first fully electric railway stretching from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean

British Steel has won a contract to supply railway tracks for Egypt's new Green Line project. Photo: Siemens

British Steel has won a multimillion-pound contract to supply rail tracks to Egypt's Green Line, the country's first fully electric railway that will link the Red Sea with the Mediterranean.

In total, British Steel will supply 9,500 tonnes of track to the 660km network, which will run from Ain Sokhna to October Gardens in Giza, before branching south to Al Ayat and north to Alexandria, El Alamein and Marsa Matruh.

British Steel is one of many contractors on the project, which will carry trains for passengers and goods up to a maximum speed of 250kph.

“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,” said Jerome Bonef, the UK company's commercial export manager for rail.

“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.”

Two shipments of rail will be transported from British Steel's operations in Scunthorpe in the east of England to the northern Egyptian port of Alexandria this month and in June.

The rail will be used to extend the line from Alexandria via El Alamein to the Mediterranean coast in the north-west and eastward to the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea.

The new railway will include 21 stations, with 13 high-speed inter-region train stations and eight regional stations.

The Green Line project is being managed by Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors' joint venture with design, construction, commissioning and operation of the line handled by the National Authority for Tunnels for Egypt.

British Steel's Scunthorpe plant in eastern England. AFP

Meanwhile, British Steel took a big step in its £1.25 billion ($1.58 billion) decarbonisation programme on Thursday when the company was granted planning permission to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Teesside plant in north-eastern England.

The company's application to build another EAF at its Scunthorpe site is pending.

“The proposed installation of EAFs in Scunthorpe and Teesside is central to our journey to a green future as they would help us reduce emissions of CO2 by more than 75 per cent,” said British Steel president and chief executive Xijun Cao.

“However, it is crucial we now secure the backing of the UK government.”

British Steel is owned by China's Jingye Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate with interests in steel, 3D printing, international trading, tourism and hotels.

The Shijiazhuang-based company employs 31,000 people.