Egypt plans to award the tender for a high-speed railway between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean in the second half of 2018, transport minister Hisham Arafat said Monday. The project will connect the eastern resort of Ain al-Sokhna to El Alamein, a town west of Alexandria that was scene of a battle in World War Two.
“We are working currently on the technical evaluation and the financial evaluation of this project,” Arafat told Reuters at a conference in Dubai, adding that the contract was expected to be awarded by July, with construction to start this year.
More than 10 international companies are currently involved in the tender process, he said, without giving any names.
Egypt is also working with China to build a light railway to link Cairo to a new capital that is under construction, after signing a memorandum of understanding late last year.
