Egypt’s Transport Ministry plans to start the second phase of the Rubiki–10th of Ramadan rail line next July at a total cost of 160 million euros, fully financed through foreign and local loans, a member of the Egyptian National Railways Authority’s board told Al Manassa.
The new phase will cover superstructure works along the 69-km line over 16 months, the source said, after the authority paid the equivalent of 110 million euros last year to Egyptian contractors for the project’s first phase, which included the route’s basic infrastructure and stations.
The project is expected to handle about 65% of the containers and goods moving through the 10th of Ramadan dry port, estimated at about 100,000 containers a year, the source said. The rest will be transported by road.
The main truck routes serving the port will include the Regional Ring Road, the Cairo–Belbeis Desert Road, the Cairo–Ismailia Desert Road and the June 30 Axis, which links the port to the East Port Said seaport, the source added.
Funding will come through a package of loans, including 70 million euros from the French agency and 35 million euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, while the authority will secure the rest from local banks in Egyptian pounds.
The source, who asked not to be named, said a consortium of France’s Alstom and Egypt’s Rowad Modern Engineering and Concrete Plus will carry out, supply and operate the mechanical systems, signaling, communications and central control in the new phase.
Since 2023, Transport Minister Kamel Al-Wazir has repeatedly said that the government aims to encourage foreign investors to localize transport industries as Egypt’s external debt-service burden rises and foreign currency shortages worsen.
Last year, MEDLOG won the contract to finance, design, build, operate and maintain the 10th of Ramadan dry port and the city’s logistics center, and then hand the assets back after 30 years, under a law signed by El-Sisi in January 2025.
