Egypt received 19 rail carriages on Sunday as part of a deal with the Russian-Hungarian consortium Transmashholding to import 1,300 rail carriages to the country in a 2018 mega deal, the largest in the history of the country. According to an official statement, transportation minister Kamel Al-Wazir said the 19 aerodynamically ventilated third-class carriages arrived at the port of Alexandria, bringing the total number of carriages that have arrived to date to 227. More carriages would be delivered on a monthly basis in accordance to the timeline set under the deal, he added. The agreement between the Russian company and the Egyptian National Railways (ENR), is worth more than 1 billion euros and is the largest in the history of the Egyptian railway sector.
The deal comprises 500 aerodynamically ventilated third-class coaches as well as 800 air-conditioned ones - 500 of which are third-class air-conditioned carriages, which is a new service offered to passengers for the first time in Egypt.
The 800 air-conditioned coaches also include 180 luxury second-class coaches, 90 luxury first-class ones, and 30 air-conditioned cafeterias.
The new coaches will contribute to raising the efficiency of daily operations and the regularity of operating schedules, as well as achieving a huge qualitative shift in the level of services provided for passengers.
