Orascom and Arab Contractors to build $4.5bn Cairo monorail lines

Canada’s Bombardier to manage project and provide the trains

The Innovia Monorail 300 by Bombardier is on display at a fair in Berlin. Canadian manufacturing group Bombardier signed a multi-billion dollar agreement to build two automated monorail lines in Egypt's congested capital Cairo. Afp

A consortium made up of two major Egyptian contracting companies and Canadian manufacturing group Bombardier have agreed on a $4.5 billion (Dh16.5bn) deal to build two new, fully automated monorail lines in Cairo.

Under the agreement with the National Authority for Tunnels in Cairo, Bombardier, Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors will design, build and operate a monorail line connecting East Cairo to Egypt's New Administrative Capital, and a line connecting 6th of October City to Giza. The consortium will be responsible for operating and maintaining both lines for 30 years.

The new project will ease congestion in the Arab world's most populous city. Egypt's population is expected to grow to 128 million by 2030 from more than 100 million at the moment, according to the World Population Prospects compiled by the UN. Cairo and its wider metropolitan area are home to 20 million Egyptians.

Orascom Construction will design and build the infrastructure and civil works, including stations, guideways and depots. Bombardier will supply 70 four-car monorail trains, as well as the control centre and all of the power and communications systems. It will also handle project management. Bombardier's share of the contract is estimated to be worth around $2.85bn, while Orascom's share has been estimated at around $900 million.

"We continue to play an integral role in the development of Egypt’s infrastructure, and are proud to be part of this prestigious project to build mass transportation across Cairo, the New Administrative Capital, Giza and 6th of October City," said Osama Bishai, chief executive of Orascom Construction.

The rail line between East Cairo and the New Administrative Capital will be 54-kilometre long and journey time is expected to take around an hour.

The line between Giza and 6th of October City will be 42-km long and take 42 minutes. The two lines will have the capacity to carry up to 45,000 passengers per hour in both directions.

The consortium was named as preferred bidder for the monorail project in May, and the deal is still subject to final signatures on supplementary documents, the partners said in a joint statement.