Egypt’s National Railways Authority (NRA) is preparing to launch a limited tender for a $380 million upgrade of signaling and communications systems on the Luxor–High Dam railway line, backed by a South Korean loan, after months of procedural delays, a board member told Al Manassa.
The project is part of the NRA’s broader program to modernize infrastructure and improve operations by upgrading signaling across its main lines. The authority has already completed signaling upgrades on the 208-kilometer Cairo–Alexandria line and the 250-kilometer Beni Suef–Assiut line.
The total cost, including the local component, has risen to $380 million from about $300 million in the initial 2023 implementation plan because of the currency devaluation and higher prices for imported equipment and locally sourced materials, the source said. Inflation has also pushed the value of civil works awarded to local companies above 7 billion Egyptian pounds (about $137 million), up from an earlier estimate of 5 billion pounds.
The source, who requested anonymity, told Al Manassa that the NRA had planned to issue the tender at the start of this year, but completing the tender documents and procedures tied to the South Korean loan delayed the process.
The loan agreement with South Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) was signed in January 2022, but legal reviews by the Ministries of Transport and Foreign Affairs, the Cabinet, and final parliamentary approval took considerably longer than expected, delaying implementation.
Under the financing agreement, only consortia comprising South Korean and Egyptian companies are eligible to bid. The winning South Korean firms will supply and operate the mechanical systems, signaling, centralized control, and communications equipment, with payments made in US dollars from the loan proceeds. Egyptian companies will carry out track rehabilitation, station upgrades, and related civil works, with payments made in Egyptian pounds.
To limit exposure to future cost increases, the NRA plans to shorten the project’s implementation period to three years from four once the winning consortium is selected, the source said.
Train services on the Upper Egypt Luxor–High Dam line will continue throughout construction, although temporary schedule delays are possible as work is carried out alongside regular operations, the source said.
Egyptian National Railways operates a network spanning more than 9,570 kilometers across 23 governorates, carrying nearly 420 million passengers a year. Its fleet includes about 3,040 passenger carriages—850 of them air-conditioned—along with 8,553 freight wagons and 793 locomotives.
