The Egyptian National Railway and Thales signed two agreements covering signal modernization and infrastructure projects. According to the framework agreement, Thales will be responsible for covering the Qalyoub-Menouf-Tanta line and the Qalyoub-Shebin ElQanater-ElZagazig line (64km), two key priority lines of ENR located in the Delta of Egypt. The agreement is a continuation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Thales and ENR in Madrid in September, which will determine the need for ENR to increase capacity for these two heavily trafficked lines.

Infrastructure Engineering in Egypt

Under this project, Thales will provide ENR with turnkey solutions for signal and telecommunications system modernization, track repair and replication. At the same time, Thales will explore the possibility of implementing a national central traffic control (CTC) for the ENR network and adding ETCSL1 solutions along two routes.

The two companies also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to modernize the two interlocking stations located in Farz and LimonBridge. The two towers, Farz and LimonBridge, are located in the center of Cairo, around Cairo Ramses Station and Cairo Central Station, and will complement the ongoing modernization of the Cairo-Alexander Corridor. With the modernization of these two stations, ENR will have a signaling solution that is fully compatible with the system already implemented in Alexandria, Cairo. When trains approach the main station from different secondary lines, this modernized range will enhance ENR operations around Ramses station by increasing the level of safety. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

Thales is currently upgrading the signal system of the 208-kilometer Cairo-Alexander Railway and the 250-kilometer Assiut-NagaHamadi line through the implementation of the Electronic Interlocking System (EIS), which will increase the train speed from 140 km/h to 160 km/h and trains. The time between trains will be reduced from 10 minutes to 5 minutes. The country’s signal modernization plan covers the entire 1,900-kilometer railway network and is estimated at 50 billion Egyptian pounds (3.2 billion US dollars). Recently, a railway line on the upper reaches of the Nile was awarded a new signal contract.Editor/XingWentao